Sadeem secures $2.6mln financing from KAUST and Aramco funds

THUWAL — Sadeem, a wireless environmental sensing systems spinout company from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the world’s first multi-patented sensor solution for flood, traffic, weather and air quality monitoring, has secured $2.6 million of co-investment from the KAUST Innovation Fund and Saudi Aramco’s Wa’ed Ventures fund.

This joint funding round will support Sadeem in pioneering crucial sensor technology that helps to solve the growing global problems of natural disasters, and specifically those with a developmental benefit to Saudi Arabia.

KAUST I&ED Vice president, Kevin Cullen, said of the partnership: “We are thrilled to be co-investing with Wa’ed Ventures in Sadeem, one of the Kingdom’s leading deep tech startups. What started as idea between KAUST students is now a fast-growing company with a strong IP position, R&D and a talented local team. Wa’ed is a great investment partner for Sadeem and will support them as they continue expanding globally.”

Wassim Basrawi, Managing Director of Wa’ed Ventures, echoed these sentiments, saying: “Sadeem is a great example of a diverse Saudi-based startup that is transforming collaborative research efforts into commercial solutions, and addressing environmental challenges through sensible smart-city applications.”

Basrawi highlighted that “along with our Chief Investment Officer, Salman T. Jaffrey, we are looking forward to seeing Sadeem gain further business opportunities and support the Kingdom’s road and environmental response infrastructure.”

In the last five years, both KAUST and Wa’ed Ventures have been contributing to the emerging venture ecosystem in Saudi Arabia by actively investing in technology startups and early stage companies. The Innovation Fund is the venture capital arm of KAUST and invests in deep tech startup projects and companies working to find solutions to some of the world’s most pressing scientific and technological challenges. Wa’ed Ventures is the entrepreneurial venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco that invests in innovative and impactful, early stage startups with high growth potential to promote economic development in Saudi Arabia.

The investment from the KAUST Innovation Fund and Wa'ed Ventures will be used by Sadeem for product updates to the existing Equa and Aura sensors, development of new technologies (for monitoring ice, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes), business development and new customer acquisition.

“Early on, as doctoral students at KAUST, we realized that there was a critical lack of information about flooding and air quality - and not just in Saudi Arabia, but around the world," said Mustafa Mousa, Co-Founder & CEO of Sadeem. "We are proud to be playing a key role in solving this global problem and excited to continue our startup journey with an investment powerhouse like Aramco’s Wa’ed Ventures fund.”

Sadeem’s unique technology is non-invasive, scalable and easy to deploy. Currently, the Equa is being used in 8 cities as far away as Mexico City and Texas in the United States. Sadeem is looking to introduce their solutions into cities in Spain, Canada, and the UK.

Sadeem is a member of the UN Disaster Management Community, ranked 13th Most Promising KSA Startup in Forbes Magazine 2016 and has been recognized with Best Global Startup from GITEX 2017 and Best IP-Based Startup KAUST 2016.