Mohammed Nabil, CEO and Co-founder of Widebot. Image Credits: Widebot
Egypt’s artificial intelligence startup, Widebot, has closed its pre-Series A funding round with a $3 million investment from Keheilan Asset Management II under the aegis of Saudi-based investment firm Wafra, along with other investors like Enza Capital, DisrupTech Ventures, LoftyInc Capital, Den VC, and SparkLabs Ventures. The funding will be channeled towards developing an Arabic large language model (LLM), signaling Saudi Arabia’s intention to become a regional technology centre.
The Riyadh-based company, originally founded in Cairo intends to deploy the capital towards accelerating the development of “AQL Mind”, a generative AI model tailor-made for the Arabic language and hosted on Saudi-based cloud infrastructure. AQL Mind will be designed to understand a large variety of Arabic dialects and accents. Most global LLMs trained on English and other popular languages have ignored this factor as being crucial in a region of significant linguistic diversity.
Widebot guarantees that its model, dubbed “AQL LLM,” will be tailored to understand Saudi identity and culture, complying with local AI regulations and systems. The company further states it will offer enhanced performance and data protection, crucial for attracting government and enterprise clients in the Kingdom. Widebot already has a valuable client base of over 350 across 12 countries, including entities like the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and the Egyptian Tax Portal, suggesting an existing market demand for its Arabic-focused AI solutions.
“We firmly believe that the future of economic development in the region hinges on supporting deep technology companies. The synergy between technical and financial efforts will reinforce national sovereignty over our technological infrastructure.” said Dr. Ahmed Abdelhamid, CEO of Keheilan Asset Management.
“AQL Mind will enable the company to deliver accurate, secure and personalized AI experiences to Saudi government entities and businesses,” said Mohammed Nabil, WideBot CEO and co-founder.
As evinced by the investment in Widebot, the Saudi Arabian kingdom is actively seeking to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons under its Vision 2030 plan. Salah Khashoggi, Chairman of Al Wafra Al Thania Firm, emphasised that the investment “aligns with the company’s commitment to supporting tech firms in Saudi Arabia, especially those in AI and fintech,” adding that the Keheilan Deep Tech Fund plays a “vital role in financing innovative startups that contribute to Vision 2030.”
