Egyptian startup Knot Technologies has successfully closed a $1 million pre-seed funding round. The investment was led by prominent MENA venture capital firm A15 and is earmarked for scaling the company’s AI-native ticketing and access control infrastructure.
Founded in 2024 by Ahmed Abdalla and Hussein ElBendak, Knot aims to overhaul the live events industry by addressing longstanding challenges such as ticket fraud, unregulated resale markets, and a lack of demand visibility for organizers.
Tackling a Broken Ticketing System
The live events sector has long struggled with significant value leakage, with organizers often blind to real-time demand and fans vulnerable to fraudulent activities. Knot identifies this as a critical data failure, where huge profits are lost to secondary markets and the connection between event creators and their audience is broken.
“Ticketing has become a financial black hole, with value leaking into unregulated channels and no modern tools to prevent it,” said Ahmed Abdalla, co-founder and CEO of Knot. “Organizers lack visibility and control and fans are paying the price. That is why we started KNOT, to unlock real economic value and rebuild trust between businesses and their customers.”
An AI-Powered Infrastructure
Knot’s solution is centered on a proprietary AI layer designed to bring security, transparency, and intelligence to the ticketing lifecycle. This technology authenticates user identity, governs ticket distribution in real-time, and provides organizers with deep insights into demand patterns.
By embedding AI at its core, the platform enables event owners to restrict unauthorized transfers, eliminate market leakage, and foster a more direct and transparent relationship with attendees.
“As we scale, the underlying technology has the potential to create value far beyond ticketing,” noted Hussein ElBendak, co-founder and CTO of Knot.
Fueling Expansion and Product Development
With the new capital, Knot plans to accelerate its product development roadmap and pursue international expansion. A key focus will be on deepening integrations with partners across the live events ecosystem.
The startup’s long-term vision is to establish its platform as the essential infrastructure layer for the next generation of events, empowering organizers, venues, and fans with more secure, seamless, and data-driven experiences.
About Knot Technologies
Founded in 2024 by Ahmed Abdalla and Hussein ElBendak, Knot Technologies is an AI-native ticketing and access control startup based in Egypt. The company is building an infrastructure to solve critical challenges in the live events industry, including fraud, resale market leakage, and a lack of demand visibility. Its platform aims to create more secure, transparent, and data-driven event experiences for organizers and fans alike.
Source: Waya
