STV, Sultan Holdings bet on Saudi AI startup Intelmatix
Saudi Arabian venture capital firm STV and strategic investor Sultan Holdings have invested in artificial intelligence startup Intelmatix in a new funding round.
Intelmatix did not disclose the size of its funding round but said it will use the money to develop its location intelligence technology. It currently operates out of the Saudi capital Riyadh, London and Boston.
The startup was founded this year by a group of MIT graduates led by Anas Alfaris and Ahmad Alabdulkareem. It provides both public and private sectors with AI and advanced analytics to improve operations and productivity.
The startup says its technology focuses on “location intelligence”. This maps the relationships among spatial, social, economic, and demographic data, and makes predictions using AI and advanced analysis to solve business problems such as choosing the most profitable location for a new branch.
For STV, one of the biggest venture capital firms in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, this is at least the fifth significant investment in the last four months.
Last month, it led a $4 million pre-Series A funding round into Sabbar, a Saudi Arabian gig economy marketplace that helps hire blue-collar workers in high-turnover industries. STV was joined in the round by the startup’s earlier backers Derayah VC and SEEDRA Venture.
In June, STV backed Kuwaiti online flowers and gifts store Floward as part of a Series B funding round of $27.5 million.
Earlier that month, Riyadh-based fintech platform Tweeq raised funding in a round co-led by STV and Raed Ventures. Tweeq said it had raised a “seven-figure” amount, without specifying the actual scale of its latest funding. This implies the startup raised at least $1 million.
In May, STV led a Series A funding round of $6 million in Saudi Arabian peer-to-peer vacation rental marketplace Gathern. STV was joined by Gathern’s existing investors Vision Ventures, 500 Startups, ARG Ltd and Naef Sultan AlAthel, the chairman and chief executive officer of SMSA Express Transportation Co Ltd. This was the “largest ever investment” in a female-led Saudi startup, STV said in a tweet at the time.
Sultan Holdings is led by Saudi prince Naif Bin Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Kabeer. “For us, Intelmatix is more than an investment. It is a key strategic step to advance the prospects of AI adoption and enablement in the business sector,” he said.
