Despite spending billions on business intelligence (BI) tools, companies with supply chains still struggle with slow, manual analytics processes. This inefficiency forces business teams to wait days for insights, leaving valuable financial opportunities buried in complex data.

Lumi AI’s platform features a chat module that serves as a personal data analyst, enabling users to explore data, generate visuals, and extract tailored insights using plain language-no coding needed-unlocking hidden value, boosting productivity, and freeing up the go-to data person(s) for more strategic initiatives.

Powered by a proprietary analytics engine and enterprise-grade controls, Lumi AI goes beyond simple text-to-SQL solutions, introducing a new category of multi-agent applications designed to streamline routine data tasks. Lumi AI can handle a wide range of queries-from straightforward to complex, even vague-delivering deeper intelligence and setting a new standard for conversational analytics, with a future vision of enabling actions and fully harnessing the potential of agentic workflows.

“We founded Lumi AI to break down the barriers between businesses and their data. With this funding, we’re accelerating our mission to help companies democratize access to intelligence and transform decision-making at scale,” shares Ibrahim Ashqar, CEO and Co-Founder of Lumi AI. “AgFunder’s expertise in supply chain innovation makes them an ideal partner to help us empower businesses globally to unlock the full potential of their operational data.”

Lumi AI will use the funds to grow its engineering and customer success teams, accelerate feature development, and support a growing roster of global customers with complex supply chain datasets. Clients span mid-sized consumer packaged goods (CPG) and third party logistics (3PL) businesses to recognizable enterprises, including an F10 retailer, one of North America’s largest meal-kit providers, a top 4 consulting firm, and the largest luxury retailer in the MENA region.

“Lumi AI is transforming the way businesses operate by making analytics accessible to everyone,” states Rob Leclerc, Managing Partner at AgFunder. “I haven’t seen that before, such incredible pull in demand across retail, grocery, manufacturing, and any industry with complex supply chains. We’re excited to support their journey.”

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Data exfiltration by insiders, both intentional and inadvertent, is a critical cybersecurity threat for enterprises. The rise of generative AI has significantly amplified these risks, as highlighted by Samsung banning employees from using ChatGPT after internal source code was leaked, and coming to the fore again with DeepSeek’s growing popularity. The threat extends beyond accidental exposure, as demonstrated by North Korean state-sponsored groups placing fake IT employees within organizations to steal sensitive data. With the average cost of breaches rising to nearly $5M in 2024, data protection has become the top challenge for CISOs in dynamic cloud environments where traditional security perimeters are increasingly obsolete.

Orion Security addresses these challenges by fundamentally changing how organizations protect their sensitive data. Rather than relying on rigid rules and manual policies, Orion’s platform automatically learns and understands how data normally flows within an organization. This context-aware approach allows Orion to accurately distinguish between legitimate business activities and potential data theft or exposure, whether intentional or accidental.

“Today’s data protection tools are failing because they lack the crucial business context needed to understand what’s truly risky,” said Nitay Milner, CEO and co-founder of Orion Security. “By using AI to map and understand an organization’s operational DNA, we’re enabling a new generation of data protection that can accurately distinguish between legitimate business workflows and potential data theft, without burdening already overstretched security teams.”

“The data protection market is at a critical inflection point, demanding solutions that go beyond basic data lineage to truly understand how modern businesses operate,” said Tal Yatsiv, General Partner at PICO Venture Partners. “Nitay’s background in observability and data tracing at Epsagon gives Orion the perfect foundation to not just track data movement, but to understand its business context. Combined with Yonatan’s extensive cybersecurity experience, this team is uniquely positioned to deliver the next generation of data protection.”

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Founded in 2024 by Shaqran Alyahya and Khalid Naili, Nayla Finance aims to simplify access to capital for micro-businesses, addressing challenges traditional lenders often overlook. The company leverages alternative data and advanced risk models to assess creditworthiness, unlocking financing opportunities for underserved businesses in key sectors like e-commerce, retail, and food & beverage.

“Our ambition is bold,” said Nayla Finance CEO Shaqran Alyahya. “We are empowering key drivers of the Saudi economy with financial solutions designed for their reality.”

With the new funding, Nayla Finance plans to:

• Strengthen its AI-driven credit scoring system.
• Expand partnerships with e-commerce and merchant aggregators.
• Deploy $2.7 million in debt financing to scale its loan book.

This investment aligns with Saudi Vision 2030’s goals of financial inclusion and SME digital transformation. “Fintech innovation is key to unlocking economic potential,” said Rayan Aebi, CEO of Sanabil Venture Studio.

By providing fast, accessible financing, Nayla Finance is set to transform micro-business lending in Saudi Arabia, driving economic growth.

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PlaysOut enables developers to launch mini-games on popular platforms like Telegram, Discord, and YouTube, while integrating blockchain features for seamless gameplay experiences. The upcoming launch of PlaysOut’s embedded SDK in May aims to simplify the integration of mini-games with blockchain technology, offering developers an easier path to creating interactive and decentralized experiences.

The participation of OKX Ventures, a leading venture capital firm, highlights the increasing interest in blockchain-powered gaming and aligns with PlaysOut’s vision to build a robust mini-game ecosystem. KBW Ventures and Pacific Century Group, both known for supporting cutting-edge technologies, bring valuable expertise to accelerate PlaysOut’s growth and developer adoption.

The fresh funding will be used to scale the mini-game ecosystem, attract new developers, and deliver a diverse range of interactive experiences. PlaysOut also aims to strengthen strategic partnerships within the gaming and blockchain sectors, broadening its user base and enhancing the overall mini-game experience.

With the backing of industry-leading investors and its commitment to innovation, PlaysOut is poised to become a key player in the emerging mini-game sector. This funding milestone positions the platform to leverage blockchain technology for greater functionality, security, and user engagement.

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This investment will support PIESHIP‘s expansion plans in the Saudi market. The company aims to extend its operations to 7 major cities, including Jeddah, Mecca, Medina, Dammam, Khobar, Qassim, and Khamis Mushait. Additionally, PIESHIP plans to increase the number of registered drivers in its network to 5,000, which will enhance delivery efficiency and provide more flexible solutions to the logistics sector.

Nasser Al-Harithi, co-founder and CEO of PIESHIP, commented: “Closing our seed funding round, led by Nama Ventures, reflects investors’ confidence in our vision and strategy. We will continue to invest in developing our logistics technologies using artificial intelligence to manage the driver network, enabling us to provide faster and more efficient services, and enhance the customer experience for last-mile delivery companies.”

For his part, Mohammed Alzubi, founder and managing partner at Nama Ventures, stated: “At Nama Ventures, we believe in the importance of supporting startups with a clear vision and the ability to make a real impact. PIESHIP has proven its ability to provide innovative solutions to the last-mile sector, and we are proud to lead this investment round and contribute to driving the company towards further success and growth.”

In the coming period, PIESHIP will focus on enhancing the user experience by improving tracking and communication systems, and launching new services that support the logistics sector. The company will also continue to develop advanced artificial intelligence solutions for fleet management and data analysis, with the goal of improving delivery efficiency and reducing delivery times.

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Using proprietary technology, qeen.ai develops AI agents that autonomously execute tasks and optimize their outcome based on observed user behavior. E-commerce businesses can seamlessly interact with qeen.ai’s domain-expert agents to carry out functions like content creation, marketing and conversational sales. This enables merchants to effortlessly automate e-commerce tasks, achieving performance uplifts beyond the capabilities of human operation or conventional AI applications.

The seed funding will support qeen.ai’s growth strategy by expanding the reach and capabilities of its agentic AI platform, scaling the team, and attracting a wider customer base. The Company to expand on its existing fully autonomous content and marketing agents to solve a broader range of challenges faced by online businesses.

Headquartered in Dubai, qeen.ai was founded in 2023 by former Google & DeepMind colleagues Morteza Ibrahimi, Ahmad Khwileh, and Dina Alsamhan. The founding team combines global experience, including time in the San Francisco Bay area, deep expertise in AI and e-commerce, and a shared vision of harnessing AI’s transformative power to enable fundamentally new ways of operating and growing an online business.

Morteza Ibrahimi, qeen.ai Co-founder and CEO stated: “We are proud to have the backing of Prosus Ventures and our existing investors as we work towards our vision of becoming the go-to intelligent technology partner for e-commerce businesses. By building AI solutions that are both intuitive and accessible, we enable e-commerce businesses of all sizes to scale, innovate, and thrive in the evolving digital economy.”

The e-commerce market is experiencing accelerated growth globally, fueled by evolving consumer behaviours, advanced digital payment systems and digitized logistics infrastructures. In MENA the market is projected to reach $50 billion in 2025, with KSA and the UAE as the main drivers of the boom, presenting significant opportunities for businesses ready to scale. At the forefront of this transformation, qeen.ai’s AI agents are empowering businesses to optimize their operations, enhance customer experiences, and unlock new growth opportunities in an increasingly competitive landscape.

Robin Voogd, Head of Middle East Investments at Prosus Ventures commented: “As one of the largest e-commerce and marketplace investors in the world, we’ve seen first-hand how AI Agents are redefining the landscape of global marketplaces for online merchants. There’s a huge opportunity and we believe and qeen.ai is well-placed to unlock this technology for merchants in an AI-first world. The company has demonstrated an innovative approach to bringing AI to the e-commerce industry and is backed by an expert founding team. They will provide significant value to merchants focused on delivering a strong digital shopping experience across countries.”

Since launching its Dynamic Content agent in Q2 2024, qeen.ai has served over 15 million users, generating more than 1M SKU descriptions, and enabling merchants achieve 30% uplift in sales.

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This funding will accelerate Orchid’s pioneering work using Large Language Models (LLMs) to address the longstanding challenge of managing fragmented identity systems in large enterprises. With this major infusion of seed capital, Orchid is poised to accelerate the development of its platform, scale up its sales and support teams, and build its marketing engine. Orchid already works with leading enterprises worldwide, across finance, manufacturing, healthcare, and retail. Its customers include Fortune 500 companies, such as Costco and Repsol.

Orchid’s platform is designed to tackle a fundamental problem in identity security — its inherent complexity. On average, enterprises handle 1,200 different applications hosted on-premise, in the cloud, or delivered as SaaS. They must navigate a highly fragmented landscape of identity and access management tools that routinely evolve, keep up with identity protocols that continue to improve, remain compliant with changing regulatory requirements, and protect their data amid a dynamic threat landscape. This creates an environment that has been nearly impossible to assess, let alone sustain a strong and consistent identity posture across the organization. Based on data from a leading analyst firm, approximately $5.25 billion is projected to be spent on integration, implementation, optimization and other services related to identity and access management in 2025.

Orchid’s Identity-first Security Orchestration platform continuously discovers both self-hosted and SaaS applications, assessing their authentication and authorization flows to highlight exposure and facilitate remediation, ensuring a consistent, standardized posture through the organization’s identity stack. Unlike traditional solutions, which rely on manual, lengthy, and costly processes, Orchid’s automated platform offers deep application-centric visibility across all environments, delivering a comprehensive, real-time approach to managing identity security. This positions Orchid as a dynamic, scalable, and enterprise-focused alternative to current manual solutions, which often take years to implement and quickly become outdated with any change. With Orchid, customers have achieved a 90% faster onboarding process and a 75% reduction in professional services costs.

“Our objective with Orchid is to transform our largely (90%) manual process of onboarding applications – which can take weeks after release from development – to one that is highly (90%) automated and accomplished in just days,” said Jon Raper, Costco’s CISO. “Orchid greatly improves our speed to delivery for business units.”

LLMs play a pivotal role in this innovative technology by providing essential identity-related context and reasoning. This empowers the solution to evaluate an application’s inherent identity flows and validate the coherence of those assessments, all without requiring access to or changes in the application code.

“The latest LLM models include code recognition and reasoning skills that enable understanding of identity flows in running applications without requiring code access or input from the application owners. When prompted correctly, these models go beyond data processing —they comprehend context, make inferences, and deliver accurate decisions. They also provide clear justifications, ensuring the platform’s logic remains coherent and transparent,” said Roy Katmor, Co-Founder and CEO of Orchid Security. “With advancements in AI and LLM technology, we can now offer a solution that automatically assesses identity capabilities and exposures—considering target regulations, frameworks, and security best practices—offers remediations, and helps organizations elevate and ensure consistency of their identity security posture, all while significantly reducing cost and time.”

The founding team of Roy Katmor, Robert Wiseman, and Ido Kelson brings a wealth of cybersecurity and identity management expertise. Katmor co-founded enSilo, which Fortinet acquired, while Weisman has led identity-focused initiatives at Team8 and Claroty. Kelson, also a co-founder of enSilo, is recognized for his innovative work in endpoint security. Together, they’ve harnessed AI’s power to create a cybersecurity solution that addresses the complexities of modern identity infrastructures.

“With Orchid, Team8’s venture creation team recognized a unique opportunity to tackle one of the most pressing problems in the identity space. The integration of applications into the identity stack has long been a painful process, leading to limited posture and visibility for security teams”, said Amir Zilberstein, Managing Partner at Team8. “With their innovative approach leveraging GenAI, Orchid offers a first-of-its-kind identity fabric. This has been a top priority for our CISO village, and the traction we’ve seen for Orchid’s solution and outstanding founding team has been staggering.”

“Until now, getting the security benefits of existing identity solutions was a long, costly, and challenging process. Organizations had to locate, prioritize, and integrate all their applications into their identity systems,” said Yoni Greifman, Investment Director at Intel Capital. “Orchid changes the game by enabling companies to seamlessly identify, assess, and enhance their applications’ identity controls for stronger security and compliance—no coding required.”

“HUB completes about 65 acquisitions each year, encountering a wide variety of business-critical applications—many lacking native IAM integration capabilities,” said Jeremy Embalabala, CISO at HUB International. “Orchid’s vision of continuously discovering application authentication and authorization configurations, securing them with key IAM controls like SSO, MFA, and Identity Governance, and providing ongoing security and compliance insights is truly game-changing. By automatically enforcing these controls even when they are not natively available, Orchid is providing a critical and foundational security capability that has traditionally been challenging to achieve. This helps enterprises ensure security and compliance across every application, setting a new standard for the future of enterprise IAM.”

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As part of the 1 Billion Pitches competition during the 1 BIllion Followers Summit, the announcement underscores Halo AI’s mission to enable efficient, scalable collaborations between brands and creators.

The investment will fuel Halo AI’s global expansion beyond its successful launch in Saudi Arabia, with immediate plans for Dubai and Kuwait, followed by rapid scaling across MENA, Europe, and North America. Halo AI’s cutting-edge AI capabilities, developed by veterans from AWS, Meta, and Snapchat, have already secured partnerships with prominent brands such as Kitopi, ToYou, 1/2M, and Syarah.

The global creator economy reached $250 billion in 2024 and is projected to nearly double by 2027. Despite this growth, the industry faces critical inefficiencies in scaling brand-creator collaborations. Halo AI’s breakthrough AI technology has already achieved remarkable results within its first months of operations, positioning the company as a leader in the space.

With Halo AI, brands benefit from a 97% campaign completion rate, far exceeding the industry average of 65%, and can go live within just 48 hours. For creators, the platform guarantees payment within 72 hours, a first in the region.

“After decades of building ad products at Meta and Snapchat, we recognized that traditional approaches couldn’t solve the fundamental inefficiencies in creator marketing,” said Vito Strokov, Co-Founder and CEO of Halo AI. “Our agentic AI operates as an intelligent partner in the collaboration process, making autonomous decisions about creator-brand matches, optimizing campaign performance in real-time, and consistently delivering breakthrough results. Unlike traditional automation tools, our AI actively thinks, learns, and adapts to each brand’s unique needs while understanding what drives creator success, resulting in an 85% reduction in manual work and performance metrics that far exceed industry standards.”

“The creator economy represents one of the most dynamic and transformative opportunities of our time, but it has long struggled with inefficiencies in scaling meaningful brand-creator collaborations,” said Tina Daher, Principal at Shorooq. “Halo AI’s pioneering technology is a game-changer, bringing unmatched precision, scalability, and efficiency to this space. At Shorooq, we’re excited to support Halo AI’s vision to redefine how brands and creators connect, enabling them to unlock unprecedented value and impact across the region and globally.”

“The creator economy is booming, and brands are seeking authentic connections with their audiences,” said Wael Nafee, General Partner at Raed Ventures. “Halo AI’s innovative AI-powered platform is transforming how creator-brand partnerships are formed and executed. We’re proud to lead their fundraising round and confident Halo AI will become a definitive platform in this rapidly growing market.”

As the global creator economy is projected to reach $480 billion by 2027, with 84% of brand deals occurring in the small and medium creator segment, Halo AI is uniquely positioned to capture significant market share. Its AI-driven solutions enable scalable creator collaborations while improving quality and reducing costs, setting a new standard for the industry.

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Established in Sharjah in September 2024 by Ben Feaver, Lancelot de Brier, and Madiyar Ismagulov, Warburg AI specializes in machine learning applications for financial asset management, with a focus on algorithmic trading, real-time risk management, and asset optimization in the forex and cryptocurrency markets.

Warburg AI’s platform employs deep neural networks and reinforcement learning to refine its predictive models continually. By integrating live market data, economic indicators, and sentiment analysis, it delivers precise insights and trend forecasts, helping clients gain an edge in volatile trading environments.

The platform includes a customizable API, enabling users to set trading parameters and adjust risk-return ratios to suit their investment strategies. New users can explore the service with a 10-day free trial.

The recent $250,000 funding will support product expansion, team growth, and enhancements to Warburg AI’s algorithms. This investment reflects increasing confidence in AI-driven financial technologies and Warburg AI’s potential to disrupt traditional financial services in the region.

As demand for innovative financial solutions rises in the Middle East, Warburg AI aims to meet the needs of forex and cryptocurrency investors with advanced, AI-powered tools tailored to fast-paced trading. By focusing on real-time risk management and asset optimization, Warburg AI addresses key challenges for investors navigating volatile markets.

With the fresh capital, Warburg AI is poised to play a significant role in shaping the future of financial services in the region, bringing its expertise to a market increasingly reliant on AI to enhance investment strategies and operational efficiency.

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This funding will enable Nabt to accelerate product development and expand its market reach, supporting efforts to transform Saudi Arabia’s fresh produce ecosystem. Founded in 2022, Nabt operates a B2B marketplace connecting farmers directly with businesses, promoting transparency, efficiency, and sustainability. These initiatives contribute to food security in the Kingdom and align with the objectives of achieving self-sufficiency in food production.

Nabt has been actively involved in the Sunbolah FoodTech Accelerator, a specialized program launched earlier this year by the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture (MEWA) that aims to support entrepreneurs by providing a comprehensive ecosystem that fosters innovation and growth in the agricultural sector.

Moreover, Nabt participated in the program’s organized visit to Paris, which was aimed at providing a comprehensive understanding of the food technology industry in Europe. As part of this visit, the program included a visit to SIAL Paris 2024, providing an invaluable opportunity for Nabt to engage with industry experts, gain insights, and expand its network within the international food technology arena.

Abdullah Altamami, Founder and CEO of Merak Capital commented:  “At Merak Capital, our commitment lies in harnessing Nabt’s technology platform to revolutionize the fresh produce industry in the Kingdom. The investment aligns seamlessly with our core mission of championing innovative startups with a strong focus on technology. We are enthusiastic about Nabt’s potential to create a substantial impact in the agriculture sector. Our collaboration with them perfectly aligns with our overarching objective of investing in companies that offer technological solutions in the FoodTech sector, thereby enhancing food security and sustainability in the region.”

Dr. Ali Alsabhan, General Manager of Entrepreneurship, Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture added: “It has been inspiring to witness Nabt’s evolution throughout the Sunbolah Foodtech Accelerator program. Their passion for innovation and dedication to solving real-world challenges are commendable. As a GM, I believe that Nabt is aligned with the strategic goals and objectives for the agriculture sector within the Ministry. I have no doubt they will lead the charge in Foodtech and create meaningful change.”

Abdullah Alotaibi, Founder and CEO of Nabt, stated: “We extend our gratitude to Merak Capital, our angel investors, and Sunbolah Foodtech Accelerator program for their confidence in our vision. We are committed to transforming the fresh produce supply chain through transparency and sustainability. This investment will enable us to leverage technology to enhance food security and support local farmers, aligning with the goals of Vision 2030. We look forward to making a meaningful impact in the agricultural sector.”

Nabt is strategically positioned within Saudi Arabia’s agricultural sector, which is estimated at USD 18.77 billion in 2024 and expected to reach USD 24.14 billion by 2029, with a CAGR of 5.20% during this period. Nabt aims to leverage emerging opportunities by facilitating the connection between farmers and businesses. The primary objective is to enhance and uphold Saudi Arabia’s food security by establishing a robust infrastructure for fresh produce, thereby contributing to the Kingdom’s vision of attaining food security and economic diversification. This proactive approach is poised to bolster their market presence, fostering an innovative agricultural sector.

Merak Capital, the leading firm in this investment round, has expanded its portfolio across various innovative sectors, including transportation, sustainable agriculture, and e-commerce—focusing on technology that supports national development initiatives.

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