DUBAI: MENA-based artificial intelligence startups secured a combined $13.7 million in fresh pre-seed funding this month, as investors doubled down on AI infrastructure and sovereign data platforms even as broader regional venture activity cools.
Saudi Arabia’s Think raised $8 million in a pre-seed round co-led by RAED Ventures and Wa’ed Ventures, which the company says represents the largest AI infrastructure pre-seed round in MENA to date. The funding will support the startup’s expansion across the GCC as it builds out infrastructure to power enterprise AI workloads. Separately, UAE-based AVELIN AI closed a $3.7 million pre-seed round to scale its sovereign AI platform, which allows enterprises and government entities to retain ownership of their data while meeting compliance requirements—a proposition gaining traction as regional governments prioritise digital sovereignty.
Funding cools even as deep-tech bets grow
The two rounds arrive against a more cautious backdrop. Investors have pointed to one of the region’s most volatile geopolitical periods in recent memory as a factor weighing on deal flow. Despite the pullback, capital continues to gravitate toward AI infrastructure and deep-tech ventures, suggesting investors are becoming more selective rather than retreating altogether.
Building a talent and startup pipeline
The funding activity coincides with efforts to strengthen the region’s AI talent pipeline. Propeller concluded its inaugural Kernel Camp, an eight-week Silicon Valley residency programme, graduating five AI and deep-tech startups from across MENA, including Tunisia’s OORB and Egypt’s Nexguards. Programmes of this kind aim to expose regional founders to global markets and investor networks, potentially feeding the next wave of fundable AI ventures out of the region.
For founders and investors across the UAE and wider GCC, the divergence between headline funding declines and continued appetite for AI infrastructure signals a maturing market—one increasingly discriminating between hype-driven bets and startups solving sovereignty, compliance and enterprise-grade infrastructure challenges. As governments across the region accelerate national AI strategies, deals like Think’s and AVELIN AI’s are likely to be viewed as early indicators of where institutional and government-linked capital will concentrate through the remainder of 2026.
Sources: Wamda (3)
