A new class of founders is commanding the spotlight in the MENA tech scene, with women in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt building some of the region’s most compelling AI ventures. From Arabic-first natural language processing to enterprise automation, their companies are attracting serious capital and proving out new models for scale.
Quick Facts
- Saudi’s Gathern raised $72M at a $266M valuation.
- Women-led startups secured 1.2% of MENA VC funding in 2024.
- Arabic-first AI remains a wide-open market opportunity.
Saudi’s New Record-Holders
The data confirms the momentum. In August 2025 alone, two deals directed $72.3 million to female-led ventures. The largest of these set a new regional benchmark: Gathern, a Saudi AI-powered vacation rental platform founded by Hala Aldosari, closed a $72 million round led by PIF’s Sanabil Investments. The deal valued the company at $266 million, making Gathern the highest-valued venture-backed startup in MENA founded and led by a woman.
The trend is not confined to one sector. The same month saw a deal for Phys, a Saudi youth health platform focused on gamified activity tracking, which was co-founded by Zainab Alshaber. The increased deal flow points to a broader shift in investor appetite and opportunity.
Building The Arabic AI Moat
Nour Taher is tackling a major gap in the global AI market with Saudi-based intella. As CEO, she is leading the development of AI that understands Arabic first, with speech-to-text and natural language processing capabilities that work across 25 different dialects. After raising a $12.5 million Series A in 2025 led by Prosus, bringing its total funding to $16.9 million, the company is now launching Ziila, an Arabic digital human for enterprise customer service.
With global AI models still underperforming on Arabic language tasks, Taher’s focus on a 400 million-person market gives intella a distinct first-mover advantage that is difficult for international competitors to replicate.
UAE’s Automation Play
In the UAE, CozmoX demonstrates a different, but equally potent, application of AI. Co-founded by Nuha Hashem, the company develops AI employees that can perform the work of 100 people in roles like customer service, sales, debt collection, and invoice processing.
The company’s rapid traction is a clear signal of market demand. Just five months after its early 2025 launch, CozmoX had already onboarded more than 50 companies in the Emirates. This growth is accelerated by the UAE’s AI-first national strategy and regulatory infrastructure, which helps compress the timeline from launch to market adoption.
The Ecosystem That Made It Possible
This recent success is built on a foundation of strategic government action and increased capital flow. Initiatives like the UAE’s National AI Strategy 2031 and Saudi Arabia’s PAISDA have created a structural tailwind for AI development. Regulatory sandboxes and 100% foreign ownership rules have also made the region significantly easier to build in.
Capital has followed the strategy. AI startup funding in MENA grew 22% in 2025, with Saudi Arabia leading the region in overall VC funding with $1.72 billion raised that year. This surge provides the fuel for ambitious companies to scale. At the same time, dedicated programs like Google’s Women in AI Growth Academy, a partnership with the Saudi Authority for Data and AI and the UAE Ministry of AI, are offering equity-free support to address historical disadvantages at the pre-seed and seed stages.
About Gathern
Gathern is a Saudi-based technology company operating an AI-powered platform for vacation and property rentals. It connects property owners with travelers seeking short-term accommodations across the Kingdom.
About intella
Originally founded in Egypt and now based in Saudi Arabia, intella is an artificial intelligence company specializing in Arabic-first AI solutions. Its technology includes advanced speech-to-text, natural language processing, and analytics designed to function across 25 Arabic dialects for enterprise applications.
About CozmoX
CozmoX is a UAE-based AI startup that builds and deploys “AI employees.” These digital workers are designed to automate complex business functions, including customer service, sales, auditing, and debt collection, for enterprise clients.
Source: TechRound
