Skip to content
NakodaAI

Who finances AI, and at what stage

16 investors on one ladder, from pre-seed funds to sovereign capital. Pick a step to see who invests there.

Browse all 16 investors
  1. Pre-seed2 investorsIncluding COTU Ventures, BECO Capital.
  2. Seed9 investors - shown below+6Including Global Ventures, Shorooq Partners, Wamda Capital.
  3. Series A11 investors+8Including STV, e& capital, Prosperity7 Ventures.
  4. Series B+9 investors+6Including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures.
  5. Growth14 investors+11Including MGX, Mubadala Investment Company, Public Investment Fund (PIF).
  6. Late-stage / Strategic4 investors+1Including SoftBank Vision Fund, MGX, Mubadala Investment Company.

Each bar is a kind of capital, drawn across the stages it invests at.

The investors

Each one is checked against a public source. None is ranked.

9 of 16 investors

  • Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)

    One of the largest and most AI-concentrated venture firms in the world, founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. a16z runs sector-specific funds spanning applications, infrastructure and bio, and has been among the largest outside investors in the current generation of frontier AI labs - relevant to any UAE company benchmarking against, or eventually raising alongside, Silicon Valley capital.

    Venture capital

    Menlo Park, California, USA

    Invests at: Seed to Growth

    Invests in: Global

  • BECO Capital

    One of the longest-running technology VC firms in the Gulf, investing from pre-seed through growth with a hands-on, founder-first approach. Sector-agnostic with a recurring emphasis on fintech, SaaS, logistics and, increasingly, AI - the firm's track record includes early positions in Careem (acquired by Uber) and Swvl (a SPAC IPO).

    Venture capital

    Dubai, UAE

    Invests at: Pre-seed to Growth

    Invests in: UAE, Saudi Arabia, MENA

  • COTU Ventures

    A Dubai-based pre-seed and seed specialist - the name stands for "Champions of the Underdog" - built to back founders at the stage Gulf VC has historically underserved. Its $54M debut fund, closed in 2024, writes $500K-$2M checks with reserved follow-on capital across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan.

    Venture capital

    Dubai, UAE

    Invests at: Pre-seed, Seed

    Invests in: UAE, Saudi Arabia, MENA

  • General Catalyst

    A global venture firm led by CEO Hemant Taneja, investing from seed through growth with a particular emphasis on AI applied to healthcare, defense and enterprise software - sectors where the firm argues AI changes the underlying economics of the business, not just the interface.

    Venture capital

    San Francisco, California, USA

    Invests at: Seed to Growth

    Invests in: Global

  • Global Ventures

    A Dubai-based firm investing in emerging-market founders across six sector pillars - fintech, digital health, edtech, agritech/foodtech, supply chain and mobility - layered with AI/ML and enterprise-software theses across each. It writes seed-through-growth cheques and positions itself as a bridge between regional companies and international capital.

    Venture capital

    Dubai, UAE

    Invests at: Seed, Series A, Growth

    Invests in: MENA, Global

  • Khosla Ventures

    Founded by Vinod Khosla, a firm built specifically to fund high-risk, high-reward frontier technology bets - a mandate that made it one of OpenAI's earliest institutional backers, years before generative AI became a mainstream venture category.

    Venture capital

    Menlo Park, California, USA

    Invests at: Seed to Growth

    Invests in: Global

  • Sequoia Capital

    A founding institution of Silicon Valley venture capital, investing from seed through growth across enterprise software, fintech and consumer technology, with a long-running and widely reported position in frontier AI through its early backing of OpenAI.

    Venture capital

    Menlo Park, California, USA

    Invests at: Seed to Growth

    Invests in: Global

  • Shorooq Partners

    A multi-city Gulf VC firm that has grown assets under management from $2M at inception to roughly $500M, investing seed through growth across fintech, healthtech and logistics. In 2026 it launched a $100M AI innovation fund with Abu Dhabi AI company Presight, dedicated specifically to AI-focused startups.

    Venture capital

    Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Invests at: Seed, Series A, Growth

    Invests in: UAE, Saudi Arabia, MENA

Where to start

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), BECO Capital, MGX, Mubadala Investment Company, Public Investment Fund (PIF) and STV.

Not covered yet

Private equity, family offices and angel investors. Their deals are rarely disclosed by name, so we list none rather than guess. Know one? Tell us.

Looking for the deals?

Every disclosed AI funding round we track in the region is on one map.

Open the funding map

Raising, or investing?

Tell us which side of the round you are on. We read every submission before anything is passed on.