Saudi Aramco’s venture capital arm, Wa’ed Ventures, makes a strategic investment in California-based Resemble AI to support the company’s expansion into the Middle East. The investment backs Resemble AI’s regional offering of real-time deepfake detection and synthetic media safeguards.
Wa'ed Ventures participates in a $30 million Series B round for Lucidya, a Saudi AI startup. Impact46 leads the financing, with Takamol Ventures and SparkLabs also joining; the round is described as the largest capital raise by an AI company in Saudi Arabia at the time.
Wa'ed Ventures traces its history from its 2011 launch as the Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Center through its 2013 venture fund launch and 2022 expansion to $500 million. As of 2024, it reports deploying approximately $270 million across more than 75 portfolio companies.
Wa'ed Ventures takes a strategic stake in UK-based AI cloud infrastructure startup Ori. The $500 million venture arm of Saudi Aramco backs Ori's expansion into Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region, aligned with Vision 2030.