UAE AI fund announces first five investments

A $100 million global fund launched last year by Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence company Presight has disclosed its first five investments, including an Abu Dhabi-based startup.

The Presight-Shorooq Fund I chose four US companies and one Emirati company from over a thousand applicants, according to a statement.

The fund is a joint venture between Presight, the ADX-listed AI and data analytics arm of G42, and Abu Dhabi investment company Shorooq.

The fund awarded Abu Dhabi-based sovereign AI infrastructure provider NodeShift $1 million in seed funding. NodeShift provides companies tools to consolidate and manage data from fragmented digital and integrate them into new systems.

The other four awardees are all based in the US: Construction-tech company Candid got $6 million; Voice AI assistant developer Blue got $5.5 million; Crunched, which is building an AI tool that works with Excel spreadsheets got $6 million; and AI for financial knowledge work platform Hebbia was awarded an undisclosed amount.

The companies formed Presight-Shorooq Fund I with the goal of investing in global startups working in AI, machine learning and advanced data analytics. 

Alongside capital, Presight also provides startups it invests in access to the company’s cloud compute and GPU infrastructure.

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