Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Saudi artificial intelligence startup Rime has raised more than $2 million in a Seed funding round led by Seedra Ventures, with participation from Athlah Investment, Unity Invest Partners, and a group of angel investors.
Founded in 2024 by Mohammed Almarshidi and Arif Alotaibi, Rime develops an enterprise platform that enables businesses to deploy AI agents powered by Edge Computing and the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), allowing real-time decision-making at operational sites without relying on remote cloud infrastructure.
The latest investment follows Rime’s earlier Pre-Seed round, which was also led by Seedra Ventures, highlighting the venture firm’s continued confidence in the startup’s technology and growth strategy.
Today, Rime’s platform connects more than 6,000 cameras to AI agents across 2,000 operational sites, serving a growing portfolio of major retail and service businesses across the GCC. The company has emerged as one of the region’s fastest-growing Physical AI platforms, enabling enterprises to deploy autonomous AI agents in retail stores, branches, warehouses, and service centres.
By combining AIoT with edge computing, Rime integrates AI agents with onsite cameras and sensors to process data locally and respond instantly to operational events. The platform helps businesses improve operational efficiency, strengthen compliance, automate decision-making, and reduce waste and unaccounted losses.
Commenting on the funding, Mohammed Almarshidi, Co-founder of Rime, said:
“We are moving into a new era of Physical AI, where systems move beyond screens to interact and make decisions directly within operational environments. We strongly believe that processing data on-site through edge computing is the foundation for deploying AI agents in the field. It enables ultra-fast processing, seamless integration with existing systems, and real-time response. Our goal is to provide a secure and user-friendly platform while managing the entire infrastructure, allowing our customers to deploy reliable AI solutions without technical complexity.”
Abdullah Al Munif, Co-founder of Seedra Ventures, said the investment reflects the firm’s long-term partnership with Rime through its Venture Studio model.
“As AI models become increasingly accessible, competitive advantage no longer comes from the models themselves but from delivering intelligent decisions directly to frontline operations in real time. Organisations already have extensive camera and sensor infrastructure that has traditionally been used only for monitoring. Converting these assets into an active operational intelligence layer represents one of the largest opportunities in enterprise AI today, and Rime is well positioned to capture that opportunity.”
Rime plans to use the new funding to strengthen its presence across Saudi Arabia, accelerate the development of its AI platform, and help enterprises deploy scalable AI applications across day-to-day operations. The company said its growth strategy aligns with the objectives of Saudi Arabia’s National Strategy for Data and AI (NSDAI) and Vision 2030, supporting the Kingdom’s ambitions to become a global leader in artificial intelligence.
