More AWI fund deals disclosed; Saudi AI strategy to be launched in Oct

Good morning!

Here’s your weekly roundup of Middle East AI News and there is a lot of news to share today!

Last weekend the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) announced that the Global AI Summit will now take place virtually in October, at which the SDAIA will present its recently approved national AI strategy for Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, the UAE's AI strategy was top of mind this week, as both the Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and the Minister of State for AI, digital economy and remote work applications talked up the UAE's digital economy future and the need for innovation.

Also this week, news of two more startup investments by ADQ's Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI) fund. I mentioned in last week's newsletter that AWI had invested in Bangalore-based Entropik Tech, while the August 27th newsletter shared news of the fund's investment in Verloop.io (also Bangalore). The precondition for AWI funding is that the startups set-up in Abu Dhabi's Masdar City. This week, there are yet more updates!

It has now come to light that AWI has funded solar software startup SenseHawk Inc. and Lyceum Technologies, both of which have corporate offices in the US and development in India.

Scroll down for these stories, plus more from Bahrain, Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Stay safe and have a great weekend!

/Carrington

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Startup News

Abu Dhabi's Alpha Wave Incubation invests in SenseHawk — www.wamda.com

#India #UAE #US #funding - Solar software startup SenseHawk Inc. has secured funding of $5.1 million (Rs 37 crore) in a round led by ADQ's $300 million Alpha Wave Incubation fund. The investment is the third AWI investment to be announced, fund that aims to bring R&D from India to Abu Dhabi's Masdar City. (WAMDA)

SaaS platform Hippo Video secures $4.5 mn from Alpha Wave Incubation, others — www.techcircle.in

#India #UAE #funding - Delaware-headquartered Lyceum Technologies, which owns and operates a video CX platform Hippo Video, has raised $4.5 million in Series A round of funding.  The round was led by Alpha Wave Incubation, with participation from Exfinity Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital India’s Surge and KAE Capital. (TechCircle)

Bahrain's Investcorp takes a stake in Expo 2020's AI partner from China — gulfnews.com

#Bahrain #China #robotics - Investcorp, a global provider and manager of alternative investment products, has invested in Terminus Technologies, a smart service provider in China and a Dubai Expo 2020 sponsor. (Gulf News)

Dubai Future Foundation, Dubai Municipality launch Future of Construction Tech programme — wam.ae

#UAE #funding - Dubai Future Foundation and Dubai Municipality have launched the "Future of Construction Tech" programme within Dubai Future Accelerators (DFA). Shortlisted startups include InfraLytiks (data analytics), Falconviz (drone services), Wingtra (drone services), UIB (chatbots), Airworks (autonomous drafting software), NXT Robotics and Unmanned Life (SaaS platform). (Emirates News Agency)

Khalifa Fund and Amazon partner on programme to back SMEs in Abu Dhabi — www.thenational.ae

#UAE #startups - The Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, an Abu Dhabi government agency, and Amazon have teamed up on a new programme aimed at backing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the emirate. The government wants to attract more high-tech start-ups and businesses to the emirate. (The National)

Six best Saudi startups qualify for world finals — www.zawya.com

#Saudi #startups - Six winners of the Saudi Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) have been chosen including BrightSign, that developed a smart glove for translating sign language and PereGrine Genomics, which personalises healthcare services using Big Data and AI analytics. (Zawya)

AI Policy

Saudi national artificial intelligence strategy to be launched in October — www.carringtonmalin.com

#Saudi #AIstrategy - Saudi Arabia's national artificial intelligence strategy is to be launched at the Global AI Summit, which will now take place in October as a virtual event. (Carringtonmalin.com)

Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology calls for concerted efforts to speed up 4IR transition — www.khaleejtimes.com

#UAE #R&D - Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, on Monday called for concerted efforts to speed up UAE's transition into the fourth industrial era. The minister, who is also the CEO of Adnoc, stressed the importance of innovation, adoption and R&D. (Khaleej Times)

Wider AI usage to boost UAE's digital economy, AI minister says — www.thenational.ae

#UAE #AIstrategy - Widespread adoption of artificial intelligence will boost the digital economy in the UAE, according to Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for AI, digital economy and remote work applications. (The National)

Retail

Carrefour will get a robot to hand over packages at DIFC — gulfnews.com

#UAE #retail - Carrefour has launched Click & Collect Self-Service at the Gate Avenue at DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre), which will use a robot to dispense online grocery orders to customers via a drive-in delivery station. (Gulf News)

Smart Cities

Egypt’s new administrative capital will be center of Middle East, says official — www.arabnews.com

#Egypt #smartcities - The start of the second phase of Egypt’s New Administrative Capital is underway, according to chairman Maj. Gen. Ahmed Zaki Abdeen. Discussions are already underway with global tech firms towards making the capital a modern smart city. (Arab News)

Dubai uses AI to improve bus routes — www.thenational.ae

#UAE #transport - Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has started trials using machine learning to plot bus routes, identify daily usage habits of users and improve operating efficiency. The first trial period analysed 10 bus routes and resulted in time savings, according to the RTA. (The National)

Egypt to embark on new smart transportation system — egyptindependent.com

#Egypt #transport - Egypt will establish a smart transportation system to improve communications links, limit the number of traffic accidents and reduce the amount of fuel used. The system will initially target 20 roads, covering 1,070 km. (Egypt Independent)

DLD adopts artificial intelligence technology in smart valuation process — wam.ae

#UAE #realestate - Dubai Land Department (DLD) is using artificial intelligence for smart valuations of real estate in the emirate developed by Crayon (which 'Crayon', we're not sure!). (Emirates News Agency)

Healthcare

More than 1,500 customers visit the first Ai Medical Fitness Center in the world in 2020 — mediaoffice.ae

#UAE #healthcare - A total of 1,589 customers have used the Dubai Health Authority’s (DHA) first fully Artificial Intelligence (Ai) autonomous medical fitness center since its inception in February. (Dubai Media Office)

Oman's health ministry receives award — timesofoman.com

#Oman #cancer - Oman's Ministry of Health has received an International Telecommunication Union award for the artificial intelligence project in breast cancer detection. (Times of Oman)

Using AI, Cairo University creates search engine for COVID-19 research — egyptindependent.com

#Egypt #coronavirus- Cairo University President Mohamed al-Khosht announced Saturday that a joint research team from its faculties of pharmacy, computers and AI has created a search engine enabling anyone around the world to perform a reference survey on coronavirus research. (Egypt Independent)

Education

MBZUAI faculty member wins top prizes at European AI conference — www.wam.ae

#UAE #education - Dr. Hang Dai, Assistant Professor in the Computer Vision department at the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), has achieved first and second place in the Commands 4 Autonomous Vehicles, C4AV, Workshop Challenge, part of the recently-held European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV 2020). (Emirates News Agency)

University of Wollongong in Dubai announces three new STEM programs — www.thenational.ae

#UAE #education - University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD), the first international university and the highest-ranked Australian university in the UAE, has announced the launch of three cutting-edge degree programs in Computer Science for the September 2020 intake. (The National)

MBZUAI to welcome 101 students — www.khaleejtimes.com

#UAE #education - A total of 101 graduate students from 31 countries will be attending Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) in Abu Dhabi, when it opens for its first academic year on January 10, 2021. The university initially planned to accept only 50 students for its first year. (Khaleej Times)

Trade

UAE, South Korea agree on 10 new sectors and programmes including AI — wam.ae

#SouthKorea #UAE #trade - The seventh session of the UAE-South Korea Joint Economic Committee this week agreed 10 vital and strategic sectors and programmes. The agreement included cooperation and investment in AI and other emerging technologies. (Emirates News Agency)

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About Carrington Malin — www.carringtonmalin.com

Carrington Malin is a UAE-based entrepreneur, marketer and writer who focuses on emerging technologies.