Dubai AI Startup 1001 Secures $30M to Build Sovereign AI for Critical Infrastructure

Dubai-based AI company 1001 has raised $30 million in Series A funding to expand its sovereign artificial intelligence platform for industries powering the Gulf economy. The round was led by Lux Capital, with participation from PIF-owned Sanabil Investments, General Catalyst, 9Yards, Hanabi, CIV, and Stanford researcher Chris Ré, alongside several regional and international angel investors.

Founded in 2025 by Bilal Abu Ghazaleh, 1001 builds an AI operating system that helps organizations monitor and optimize complex operations in real time across aviation, ports, logistics, energy, and manufacturing. Rather than replacing existing software, the platform integrates with current systems to build a live digital model of an organization’s assets and processes, allowing it to flag issues before they occur and recommend or execute responses, while organizations retain ownership of their data and AI systems.

Abu Ghazaleh said GCC organizations are moving past experimental AI toward systems that support real operational decisions at scale, and that the funding would help the company expand its engineering team and technical capabilities.

Lux Capital’s Deena Shakir said the company shows that AI for critical infrastructure can be built and governed within the GCC rather than imported. The round follows a $9 million seed raised in October 2025, and comes as McKinsey estimates AI could add $150 billion to GCC economies.

Featured image: Credit: 1001