Intelmatix, a deep-tech B2B startup targeting companies in the MENA region who want to leverage the power of AI to aid in decision-making, has closed a $20 million Series A funding round, one of the largest funding rounds for a company of its kind in the region.
The startup, which has offices in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, London, UK, and Boston, US, was founded in 2021 but only released its enterprise AI platform, EDIX, in March 2024. The company told TechCrunch that it has secured 10 enterprise customers so far, but with its new deep pockets, it plans to expand its target to mid-sized and small businesses.
According to BCC research, the global enterprise AI market is projected to reach $68.9 billion (43.9% CAGR) by 2028, driven by investments in AI technologies and increased adoption of AI solutions by businesses looking to improve efficiency and stay competitive.
However, even as businesses begin to adopt AI decision-making solutions, many challenges remain, as IBM observed, including access to AI skills and expertise, data complexity, integration issues, high costs, a lack of AI model development tools, and ethical concerns.
Regions such as MENA have been slow to adopt automated decision-making because most enterprise AI solutions aren't tailored to local needs, making them impractical for AI-focused businesses, argues Dr Anas Al-Falis, co-founder and CEO of Intelmatix. The startup aims to help, leveraging local data, knowledge and expertise.
“[Rival AI enterprise] The platforms are designed and trained on US datasets and do not handle data with MENA regional context. These platforms are designed for large enterprises that have invested in both infrastructure and data. [data science and AI] “The other big problem in the region is talent shortages — talent shortages,” Al-Falis told TechCrunch, naming US-based companies such as o9 and Palantir as major competitors.
These are the challenges Intelmatix has been trying to solve with its flagship AI-powered enterprise decision intelligence platform, EDIX, which Alfaris says can be rapidly deployed across an enterprise and doesn't require an AI team to use.
The startup currently focuses on the retail, logistics and workforce sectors, enabling businesses to leverage information on operational and strategic issues such as demand and supply, location, recruiting, staff planning and scheduling, fleet management and marketing.
For example, a chain store leveraging the EDIX software suite can get recommendations on the best locations to open new branches and their projected revenue with 80% accuracy, according to Alfaris.
“Today, the majority of businesses don't have access to AI capabilities, but we're giving them 80% of that capability. We might not be giving them 100% yet, but we're taking them from zero to 80 by giving them instant access,” he said. “That's the core of EDIX and why we invested in building it in the region – to dramatically reduce the complexity and make AI truly accessible.”
The startup's marketing pitch paints a picture of MENA businesses not having to guess their next move because EDIX is designed to provide instant answers and recommendations, meaning it can be used for both operational and strategic decisions.Alpharis said Intelmatix's decision intelligence algorithms use client and other contextual data provided by the startup to power their recommendations.
“Decision-making is highly connected. You can't make a marketing decision that drives demand in the store without tying it directly to inventory and understanding what's going on there. The same with staffing and operations. Decision-making is highly integrated. But the little tools that some organizations use today are highly siloed and very specialized to particular functions within the enterprise. They're useful, but you need a one-stop shop,” he asserted.
Intelmatix says that during a year-long trial of its technology in the food and beverage sector, its platform's demand forecasting accuracy improved by 15%, waste costs decreased by 75%, added overtime hours were reduced by 25% and the platform was able to predict new branch revenue with over 80% accuracy.
Decision-making techniques are no stranger to Al-Falis, who led research on the interconnectedness and complexity of decisions at the Center for Complex Engineered Systems at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in Saudi Arabia after leaving MIT, where he earned his PhD in design computation and worked on various research teams, including the Media Lab's Smart Cities group.
He helped found the center in 2012 as a joint program between MIT and KACST, which led to another program called the Joint Centers of Excellence Program, conducting research projects with other leading universities and tech companies in the U.S. and the U.K. It was also at KACST that Al-Falis met Intelmatix co-founders Ahmad Arabdulkarim and Almaha Almalki ahead of the startup's 2021 launch.
Intelmatix's current plan is to aim for greater scale by targeting large enterprises, mid-sized companies and public sector organisations in the MENA region, and Alfaris said the new funding will also be used to expand the platform's capabilities and reach.
“We're excited to expand the offerings of these suites to provide more decisions and capabilities that we believe will benefit our customers,” he said. “The idea of ​​democratizing access to AI is something we've always been passionate about.”
The Series A round was led by Shorooq Partners and included participation from private and public sector entities including Olayan Financing Company, Rua Growth Fund, Saudi Technology Ventures, Saudi Venture Capital Company, Sultan Holdings and Zain Ventures.