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+6Including Global Ventures, Shorooq Partners, Wamda Capital.
  3. Series A11 investors - shown below+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.

11 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

  • STV

    The largest technology-focused VC firm headquartered in the Middle East by assets under management, investing from Series A through growth. STV runs a dedicated $100M AI fund backed by Google to back AI-native startups across MENA, on top of its generalist technology fund.

    Venture capital

    Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Invests at: Series A to Growth

    Invests in: Saudi Arabia, MENA

  • e& capital

    The corporate venture arm of e& (formerly Etisalat), the UAE telecom and technology group majority-owned by the Emirates Investment Authority. It invests from the group's own balance sheet into enterprise software, AI/ML, fintech and cybersecurity, with e&'s regional network across the Middle East, Africa and Asia as the strategic asset behind the financial return.

    Corporate VC

    Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Invests at: Series A to Growth

    Invests in: UAE, Global

  • 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

  • Prosperity7 Ventures

    The diversified venture arm of Aramco Ventures, the investing subsidiary of Saudi Aramco. Prosperity7 writes early-through-growth cheques into enterprise tech, deep tech and AI, with a fund that grew from $1B to $3B in January 2024 - sized to take meaningful positions in category leaders rather than spray small checks across a portfolio.

    Corporate VC

    Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

    Invests at: Series A to Growth

    Invests in: Saudi Arabia, Global

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.