Wa’ed Ventures, the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco, has announced it has led a $6.5 million investment round for the US-based artificial intelligence company aiXplain. This brings aiXplain’s total funding to $16.5 million since its inception in 2020.
Founded by Hassan Sawaf, a technology veteran with over 25 years of experience at Meta, Amazon, and eBay, aiXplain is dedicated to providing AI software infrastructure that simplifies the development, deployment, and management of AI solutions. The San Francisco-based company offers more than 40,000 ready-to-use AI models, enabling clients to leverage advanced AI without needing prior programming expertise.
“Creating practical AI solutions shouldn’t be limited to big tech companies with extensive AI resources,” said Sawaf. “There are a lot of AI assets available today – models, datasets, and communication channels – but very few infrastructures that facilitate access to these assets. aiXplain is changing that because we believe AI can make a tangible difference for businesses around the world, and we plan to leverage our current investments to realize this vision.”
Fahad Al-Eidi, Managing Director of Wa’ed Ventures, expressed confidence in aiXplain’s mission and potential impact. “Dr. Hassan and his team of experts and scientists understand the global disparity in access to AI and the potential impact of leaving this gap unaddressed. The team has the vision to facilitate the presence of these technologies around the world and work to maximize the returns and positive impacts from them. We are confident in the company’s capabilities to localize its solutions in the Kingdom, as it has already proven its ability to narrow the innovation gap in the field of AI in the region through working with various major companies in the Middle East and North Africa.”
The recent investment will aid aiXplain in accelerating the deployment of AI technology solutions and simplifying the building process for local companies with limited technical resources. As part of its expansion strategy, aiXplain plans to establish a regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia to serve customers across the Middle East and North Africa. The company will also collaborate with leading AI entities and organizations in the region to develop technical models in Arabic.
This strategic move aims to globalize the impact of AI, reinforcing aiXplain‘s commitment to bridging the AI innovation gap and providing accessible AI solutions to businesses worldwide.
