Skipr, an Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence infrastructure startup, has raised US$2 million in a seed funding round at a $10 million valuation. The investment is earmarked for the expansion of its sovereign AI infrastructure and the deployment of its technology across national and enterprise-level projects. Operating from the Hub71 tech ecosystem in the UAE capital, Skipr is positioning itself as a critical player in the governance and coordination of autonomous systems.
Scaling Sovereign AI Infrastructure from Abu Dhabi
Founded in 2023 by Adnan Fatayerji, Andreas Hartl, and Weynand Kuijpers, Skipr focuses on building the foundational layers that allow AI to operate independently across borders and organizations without sacrificing security. The startup operates within Hub71+ Digital Assets, a specialized ecosystem that brings together startups, regulators, and strategic partners to advance digital infrastructure. The decision to establish the company in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) was strategic, leveraging the UAE’s proactive stance on digital sovereignty and critical technology infrastructure.
Bridging the Governance Gap for Autonomous Systems
As artificial intelligence shifts from being a human-assisting tool to an autonomous actor capable of independent decision-making and transaction execution, Skipr addresses the emerging need for structural oversight. The company’s platform utilizes cryptographic identity, policy-based routing, and auditable governance frameworks to ensure that governments and large enterprises maintain absolute control over their AI deployments. This “control-plane” infrastructure is designed to handle the speed and complexity of machine-led coordination, which traditional manual oversight can no longer manage.
Strategic Roadmap and Institutional Partnerships
Skipr is currently translating its architecture into real-world applications by collaborating with telecommunications operators, sovereign AI initiatives, and large-scale enterprises. The company’s immediate priority is the deployment of programmable governance within these environments, allowing partners to operate their own sovereign control planes rather than relying on a centralized service. In the long term, Skipr aims to become the essential infrastructure layer for the autonomous AI era, facilitating secure AI-to-AI interoperability while upholding national and enterprise authority.
Investment Rationale and Regional Growth
The seed round attracted investors with deep expertise in telecom, enterprise systems, and digital sovereignty. The funding reflects a growing confidence in the necessity of a coordination layer for autonomous systems. According to Skipr’s leadership, the investment landscape in the MENA region is maturing, with a disciplined focus on infrastructure and long-term value creation. By aligning with national digital priorities and focusing on defensible tech, Skipr has positioned itself as a key builder in the region’s evolving tech stack.
About Skipr
Skipr is a UAE-based technology company that develops sovereign AI infrastructure designed to enable autonomous systems to communicate and exchange value across organizations and cloud environments. By providing a programmable governance and coordination layer, Skipr ensures that intelligent systems can operate at scale while preserving the authority and data sovereignty of governments and enterprises.
Source: Inc. Arabia
