Presight Unveils First AI Startups Backed by $100M Presight–Shorooq Fund

Mohammed Fathy

Last updated 17-03-2026

4 min

Presight backs six startups under its $100m AI Innovation Ecosystem fund.

The focus is AI that works in “real systems”, not lab-bound demos.

Startups gain mentorship, compute power and commercial routes to scale.

Over 1,000 firms were screened to find secure, regulated-ready innovators.

The aim is deployment over hype, building AI that delivers lasting value.

Presight has revealed the first six startups to receive backing from its AI Innovation Ecosystem, marking the debut investments under the $100 million Presight–Shorooq Fund I (PSFI). The fund, launched in partnership with Shorooq, is designed to support early-stage AI ventures building technology that can be deployed at national and enterprise scale, not just tested in a lab and left there.

The selected companies are based in the US and the UAE. They operate across areas such as sovereign AI infrastructure, vertical intelligence platforms for capital and industry, and secure, edge-native systems. In simple words, this is AI built to function inside complex, regulated environments where governance, reliability and resilience are not “nice to have” features but absolute musts.

I’ve seen many AI announcements over the years that felt more like science fiction trailers than actual business models. This one, though, seems firmly planted in operational reality. And for readers of Arageek who care about how innovation can be deployed, not just hyped, that’s a welcome shift.

The PSFI fund sits within Presight’s broader AI Innovation Ecosystem, a framework that combines an investment vehicle, an accelerator programme, and research and development labs. The idea is to create a pipeline from identifying promising intellectual property to actually integrating it into live systems. In other words, less talk, more execution.

Through the accelerator, participating startups gain structured mentorship, access to high-level compute infrastructure, and, crucially, commercial pathways with enterprise and government clients within the G42 and Presight networks. That commercial entry point can be the difference between scaling smoothly and getting stuck in endless pilot phases, and believe it or not, that’s often where startups quietly fade away.

Magzhan Kenesbai, Chief Growth Officer of Presight, said the core belief behind these investments is straightforward: “AI only creates lasting value when it can operate within real systems.” He pointed out that the six companies are developing secure infrastructure, industry-focused intelligence platforms, and edge-native systems designed specifically for regulated settings. By combining operational environments, incubation through the accelerator, and early-stage capital from PSFI, the aim is to build what he described as a clear path from innovation to implementation.

On the investment side, Shorooq’s Partner Dr Bilal Baloch noted that more than 1,000 companies were assessed over roughly 120 days before narrowing it down to the first six. According to him, the founders selected are stretching the boundaries of AI, from giving every app a voice interface to automating billion-dollar industries. He added that the fund is intended to act as a bridge between East and West, connecting global AI innovators with the capital, regulatory frameworks and market access available in the region.

That cross-border ambition is interesting. Abu Dhabi has been steadily positioning itself as a global hub for applied AI, and this move fits neatly into that broader strategy. Future cohorts and additional capital initiatives are expected to focus on areas like energy systems, industrial autonomy, sovereign data infrastructure, and AI-native public services. It’s a wide net, but a deliberate one.

Presight itself is listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and is majority-owned by G42. The company focuses on applied AI for intelligent systems embedded in infrastructure, capital and societal platforms. In practice, that means building AI-enabled systems capable of operating inside secure and regulated frameworks at meaningful scale.

From where I stand, it’s refreshing to see a fund emphasise deployment over buzzwords. I reckon this disciplined, integration-first approach might not grab flashy headlines every week, but it could prove more resillient in the long run. And for startups in our region watching closely, the message is clear: if you’re building AI, make sure it works in the real world, not just on a pitch deck.

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