Abu Dhabi-based AppliedAI has successfully closed a pre-Series B funding round of an undisclosed value. The investment was led by Mubadala’s MENA Venture Capital Fund and global venture capital investor Arbor Ventures, signaling strong confidence in the company’s mission to deploy trusted AI solutions in highly regulated sectors.
Founded in 2021 by Arya Bolurfrushan, AppliedAI is a key player in the UAE’s technology landscape, developing AI-native workflow solutions designed for mission-critical operations. The fresh capital is earmarked to accelerate the company’s global expansion, deepen its existing enterprise deployments, and solidify its position as a leading private-sector AI champion emerging from Abu Dhabi.
Building Trust in Enterprise AI
AppliedAI’s flagship platform, Opus, was launched in 2025 to enable large organizations to automate and supervise complex processes while maintaining stringent human oversight, auditability, and compliance. Purpose-built for sectors such as healthcare, insurance, banking, energy, and government, Opus integrates agentic AI with robust security features. This focus allows enterprises to achieve significant productivity improvements without compromising on governance and control, transitioning them from manual, document-heavy operations to scalable AI-native workflows.
The company’s approach addresses a critical market need, shifting the focus of AI adoption from early-stage experimentation to operational trust and measurable economic impact within real-world regulatory boundaries.
Fueling Global Expansion From Abu Dhabi
With a team of over 350 employees and active deployments across the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, AppliedAI is already one of the UAE’s most established exporters of enterprise AI technology. This new funding will further propel its international growth. The investment aligns with Abu Dhabi’s broader strategy to cultivate private-sector technology champions that can complement national AI capabilities and enhance its status as a global hub for applied innovation.
This round follows the company’s Series A in February 2025, where it raised $55 million at a pre-investment valuation of $300 million.
Investor Confidence in Regulated AI
The backing from prominent investors undrscores AppliedAI’s technical excellence and commercial maturity in a demanding market.
Arya Bolurfrushan, Founder and CEO of AppliedAI, said: “This partnership reflects a shared belief that the future of enterprise AI will be defined by trust, scale, and operational substance. With the support of Mubadala and Arbor Ventures, we will accelerate the global expansion of Opus while continuing to build an enduring global AI company from Abu Dhabi.”
Ali Eid AlMheiri, Executive Director, Diversified Assets, UAE Investments Platform at Mubadala, commented: “Through the MENA Venture Capital Fund, our investments in AppliedAI support our vision to nurture transformative technology leaders from the MENA region who can set new global benchmarks in innovation and responsible AI. AppliedAI’s Opus platform exemplifies the kind of scalable, secure, and industry-focused solutions that empower both regional and international organisations to unlock value in regulated sectors.”
“AppliedAI represents the convergence of three powerful trends: enterprise AI adoption, regulatory complexity, and the need for operational transformation,” added Khaled Lababidi, Partner at Arbor Ventures. “Their proven ability to deploy at scale with Fortune 500 clients demonstrates both technical excellence and commercial maturity. We’re excited to support their expansion both in the UAE and across key international markets.”
About AppliedAI
Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Abu Dhabi, AppliedAI builds AI-native workflow solutions for regulated industries. Its flagship platform, Opus, enables large organizations to redesign, automate, and supervise complex operational processes, integrating agentic AI with human oversight, auditability, and security to achieve sustained productivity improvements while maintaining full governance and control.
Source: Wamda
