AppliedAI Secures Pre-Series B to Scale Opus, Expands Global AI Workflows

Editorial Team

Last updated 22-01-2026

3 min

AppliedAI, based in Abu Dhabi, raised a pre-Series B round led by Mubadala and Arbor Ventures.

The funding will scale Opus, an AI-native workflow platform for highly regulated sectors.

Opus mixes “agentic AI” with human oversight, audit trails and strong security controls.

The company employs over 350 staff, with pilots already moving into full production globally.

Investors see it as “boring but critical” infrastructure for responsible enterprise AI.

AppliedAI, an Abu Dhabi-based startup focused on AI-driven workflows for heavily regulated industries, has secured a pre-Series B funding round to fuel the next stage of its global growth. The round was led by the MENA Venture Capital Fund at Mubadala Investment Company, alongside global investor Arbor Ventures, with the capital earmarked to scale its enterprise platform, Opus.

The timing feels spot on. There’s a growing sense across the startup world that AI’s experimental phase is fading fast. What companies want now is something that works reliably, ticks the regulatory boxes and delivers real productivity gains. From what I’ve seen around the MENA ecosystem, plenty of founders struggle at exactly this point, so seeing capital flowing into “boring but critical” infrastructure is, well… refreshing.

AppliedAI launched Opus in 2025 as an AI-native workflow platform built specifically for complex, highly regulated environments such as healthcare, banking, insurance, energy and government. Instead of replacing humans outright, Opus blends agentic AI systems with strong human oversight, audit trails and security controls. That design choice matters. In sectors where a small error can snowball into a big problem, governance and trust aren’t just nice to have, they’re indispensable.

The company is headquartered in Abu Dhabi and employs more than 350 people, with active deployments already running across the US, Europe and the Middle East. Many of its pilot projects have moved into full production, a milestone that’s harder to reach than it sounds, especially in spaces where accuracy and compliance are non-negotiable. I reckon that quiet transition from pilot to production is where AppliedAI really shows its teeth.

Arya Bolurfrushan, Founder and CEO of AppliedAI, pointed to trust and scale as the defining forces shaping enterprise AI. He said the backing from Mubadala and Arbor Ventures will help accelerate Opus’ global expansion, while continuing to build what he described as a durable, international AI company rooted in Abu Dhabi.

From Mubadala’s side, Ali Eid AlMheiri highlighted the ambition to back local technology champions with the potential to compete on the world stage. Through the MENA Venture Capital Fund, he noted, the investment aligns with a broader push to nurture responsible, secure and scalable AI platforms emerging from the region. On the flip side, Khaled Lababidi of Arbor Ventures emphasised AppliedAI’s ability to navigate regulatory complexity while delivering deployments at Fortune 500 scale, calling it evidence of both technical depth and commercial maturity.

Zooming out a bit, the bigger constraint in enterprise AI today isn’t smarter models, it’s institutional readiness. Large organisations need systems that can survive real-world regulations and operational messiness while still moving the needle economically. AppliedAI is betting on that gap, focusing on mission-critical workflows rather than flashy demos. I’m not a fan of hype-led AI plays either, so this approach feels grounded, maybe even chuffed to bits realistic.

For readers at Arageek who’ve been watching Abu Dhabi’s tech ambitions evolve, this round also hints at something deeper. Private-sector platforms like AppliedAI’s Opus are starting to complement national AI strategies, helping position the emirate as a serious hub for applied innovation at scale. And believe it or not, that shift from vision to execution is often the hardest bit, definately worth keeping an eye on.

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