Scale Ai Alum Raises $9m For Ai Serving Critical Industries In Mena

Bilal Abu-Ghazaleh had conscionable moved to London fewer days earlier our call, splitting his clip betwixt location and Dubai.

After astir a decade successful nan U.S., including a stint astatine Scale AI, he’s bringing that acquisition to his adjacent venture: 1001 AI , a institution creating AI infrastructure for captious industries crossed nan Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

The startup precocious raised a $9 cardinal seed information led by CIV, General Catalyst, and Lux Capital. Other backers see world and location angels specified arsenic Chris Ré, Amjad Masad (Replit), Amira Sajwani (DAMAC), Khalid Bin Bader Al Saud (RAED Ventures), and Hisham Alfalih (Lean Technologies).

Abu-Ghazaleh said his two-month-old institution promises to trim inefficiencies successful high-stakes sectors for illustration aviation, logistics, and lipid and state done an AI-native operating strategy for decision-making. 

“Just looking astatine nan apical 3 aliases 4 industries for illustration airports, ports, construction, and lipid and gas, we spot much than $10 cardinal successful inefficiencies crossed nan Gulf alone,” nan laminitis and CEO said successful an question and reply pinch TechCrunch. “That’s conscionable successful markets for illustration nan UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. Even without counting different sectors, these industries correspond a monolithic opportunity.”

For example, immoderate efficiencies recovered successful airdrome operations tin compound nan savings, impacting some nan airdrome and its airlines. Meanwhile, he said 9 retired of 10 of nan regions mega-projects autumn down schedule aliases spell complete budget, meaning moreover mini increases successful efficiencies tin prevention these projects superior money.

1001 AI hopes to waste its decision-making AI to caller projects aft it launches its first product, which is scheduled by year’s end. The startup is successful talks pinch immoderate of nan Gulf’s largest building firms and airports, said Abu-Ghazaleh.

Born and raised successful Jordan, Abu-Ghazaleh moved to nan U.S. for assemblage and later joined nan Bay Area’s startup scene. After an early merchandise domiciled astatine machine imagination startup Hive AI, he joined Scale AI successful 2020 during its accelerated description . There, he roseate done nan ranks from operations subordinate to head of nan company’s GenAI operations, scaling its contributor web responsible for annotating and labeling training data.

He was later group to subordinate Scale’s world nationalist assemblage unit, which builds AI solutions for overseas governments. But erstwhile Meta invested successful Scale, nan institution shifted direction, and Abu-Ghazaleh near to recovered 1001 AI.

The Gulf, peculiarly nan UAE and Saudi Arabia, has go 1 of nan world’s astir fierce adopters of AI. From sovereign-backed ventures for illustration G42 successful Abu Dhabi to Saudi Arabia’s National Center for AI, governments are investing billions to build section AI infrastructure and pull world talent.

For Abu-Ghazaleh, that operation of appetite, budget, and urgency makes nan region a cleanable testing ground. But dissimilar astir AI startups focused connected package aliases endeavor tools, 1001 targets real-world beingness operations, an area wherever nan company’s investors judge nan imaginable is moreover greater successful nan Middle East.

“We’re highly bullish connected AI that solves physical-world problems astatine standard i.e, optimizing really airports move astir flights, really ports move cargo, really building sites operate,” said Deena Shakir, partner at Lux Capital. “The MENA region offers important imaginable successful this abstraction pinch mission-critical infrastructure that’s under-digitized and ripe for transformation.”

While nan merchandise is still nether development, Abu-Ghazaleh offered a glimpse into really it works. The strategy pulls successful information from a client’s existing software, models operational workflows, and issues real-time directives to amended efficiency.

“Today, an operations head mightiness manually telephone personification to reroute a substance motortruck aliases nonstop a cleaning unit to different gate,” said Abu-Ghazaleh. “With our system, that orchestration happens automatically. The AI orchestrator uses real-time information to reroute vehicles, reassign crews, and set operations without quality intervention.”

Unlike astir early-stage AI startups that target circumstantial industries, Abu-Ghazaleh says 1001 tin beryllium accessible by galore because operational flows crossed industries often look nan same.

That exemplary borrows from nan rigor of consulting and statement work. The squad spends weeks embedded pinch clients, moving co-development sprints to tailor its systems to each operation’s realities, nan CEO said. 

“Bilal is building nan determination motor to automate that complexity pinch Scale-proven execution and nan location gravity to make 1001 nan level this marketplace builds on,” commented Neeraj Arora, managing head astatine General Catalyst.

The caller backing will accelerate early deployments crossed aviation, logistics, and infrastructure, while fueling recruitment successful engineering, operations, and go-to-market domiciled arsenic it grows its squad crossed Dubai and London.

1001 AI plans to motorboat its first customer deployment by nan extremity of nan year, starting pinch construction. Over nan adjacent 5 years, Abu-Ghazaleh wants nan institution to go nan Gulf’s go-to orchestration furniture for these industries earlier expanding globally.