Wa'ed Ventures backs aiXplain's $6.5m pre-series A raise
Company plans rapid Saudi expansion from Riyadh-based MENA headquarters
#Saudi #funding - Saudi Aramco's $500 million venture capital fund Wa'ed Ventures has led a $6.5 million pre-Series A funding round for Californian AI no-code/low-code platform startup aiXplain. The new funding round follows a successful $8 million Seed round announced in April last year and has raised a total of $16.5 million to-date. The company opened operations in the Middle East earlier this year securing AI contracts with a number of large organisations in the region, including Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA). aiXplain's subsidiary in Saudi Arabia will become the company's Middle East and North Africa (MENA) headquarters, driving growth in the Kingdom and across the region.
SO WHAT? - The GCC has proved to be one of the most receptive regions in the world to artificial intelligence adoption, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates both who have invest heavily in national AI strategies. Meanwhile, government and large commercial organisations are very positive towards AI and its benefits, but are often limited to what AI they can implement due to shortage of expertise, lack of local AI services and development resources. Demand for Generative AI models, solutions and services is growing fast, but again there are insufficient resources available to support growth. aiXplain is one of a relative few GenAI specialists in the region that is providing services to help meet these needs.
Here are a few key details relevant to aiXplains new funding and expansion:
Saudi Aramco venture capital fund Wa'ed Ventures has announced that it has led a $6.5 million pre-Series A funding round for Californian AI no-code/low-code platform startup aiXplain.
aiXplain provides infrastructure for activating AI agents with a platform that has 40,000+ AI models, pipelines and tools, helping AI developers accelerate time-to-market.
The pre-Series A round also included prominent angel investors like Osama Elkady, CEO and Co-founder of Incorta and global business expert Kane Minkus.
Funding will go towards further platform development and business expansion, providing developers with the ability to create AI agents leveraging tens of thousands of AI assets.
aiXplain also plans to make it easier for organisations in the region to develop localised AI solutions in the Arabic language and using local data sets.
aiXplain has offices in San Jose, Dubai and Riyadh.