1001 AI, a new venture founded by Scale AI alum Bilal Abu-Ghazaleh, has successfully closed a $9 million seed round to develop an AI-native operating system for critical industries across the Middle East and North Africa. The round was led by prominent global firms CIV, General Catalyst, and Lux Capital, with participation from notable global and regional angels including Chris Ré, Amjad Masad of Replit, Amira Sajwani of DAMAC, Khalid Bin Bader Al Saud of RAED Ventures, and Hisham Alfalih of Lean Technologies.
Addressing a $10B Inefficiency Problem
With a presence in both Dubai and London, 1001 AI is targeting deep-seated inefficiencies within the region’s high-stakes sectors, including aviation, logistics, construction, and oil and gas. Founder and CEO Bilal Abu-Ghazaleh estimates that these inefficiencies represent a significant economic drag. “Just looking at the top three or four industries like airports, ports, construction, and oil and gas, we see more than $10 billion in inefficiencies across the Gulf alone,” he stated. The company aims to introduce compounding savings by optimizing complex operations, noting that nine out of ten mega-projects in the region face delays or budget overruns where even minor efficiency gains can yield substantial financial benefits.
An AI Orchestration Layer for the Physical World
1001 AI is developing an AI orchestrator designed to automate and optimize real-world physical operations. The system integrates with a client’s existing software, models its operational workflows, and issues real-time directives to enhance efficiency. Instead of manual coordination, the platform will autonomously manage complex logistics. “Today, an operations manager might manually call someone to reroute a fuel truck or send a cleaning crew to another gate,” explained Abu-Ghazaleh. “With our system, that orchestration happens automatically. The AI orchestrator uses real-time data to reroute vehicles, reassign crews, and adjust operations without human intervention.” The startup is already in discussions with some of the Gulf’s largest construction firms and airports.
Backed by Regional and Global VCs
The significant interest from investors underscores the massive potential for AI solutions tailored to the physical economy of the MENA region. The Gulf, with its aggressive government-led AI adoption and large-scale infrastructure projects, provides a fertile ground for 1001 AI’s technology. Deena Shakir, Partner at Lux Capital, commented, “We’re extremely bullish on AI that solves physical-world problems at scale… The MENA region offers significant potential in this space with mission-critical infrastructure that’s under-digitized and ripe for transformation.” General Catalyst’s Managing Director, Neeraj Arora, added, “Bilal is building the decision engine to automate that complexity with Scale-proven execution and the regional gravity to make 1001 the platform this market builds on.” The new capital will be used to accelerate early deployments, recruit top talent, and grow the company’s engineering and go-to-market teams.
About 1001 AI
Founded by former Scale AI director Bilal Abu-Ghazaleh, 1001 AI is building an AI-native operating system for decision-making to optimize MENA’s most critical industries. The company focuses on transforming physical-world operations in sectors such as aviation, logistics, construction, and oil and gas by automating complex orchestration tasks and driving significant efficiency gains.
Source: TechCrunch
