- Strategic investment accelerates AI-powered verification and deepfake detection across Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East, supporting responsible AI adoption and strengthening digital trust.
Santa Clara, USA & Dhahran, Saudi Arabia – Wa’ed Ventures, the $500 million venture capital fund under Saudi Aramco, today announced a strategic investment in Resemble AI, a leading security company based out of California specializing in AI voice generation and real-time multimodal deepfake detection. The startup closed a $13 million strategic round last December backed by investors including Google’s AI Future Fund, Sony Innovation Fund, Javelin, and Ubiquity.
The investment comes amid a sharp rise in AI-generated fraud globally. Saudi Arabia is proactively moving swiftly to address these risks through strong regulatory frameworks, including the Anti-Cybercrime Law, which criminalizes the spread of fake news or misinformation that threatens public peace, security, or national interest. At the same time, global deepfake-related scams caused more than $25 billion in losses in 2024 while deepfake incidents projected to cause $40 billion in damage globally by 2027.
Wa’ed Ventures’ investment supports Resemble AI’s expansion into the Middle East, enabling organizations across Saudi Arabia to deploy secure, real-time AI detection technologies that align with regional data sovereignty and security requirements. “At Wa’ed Ventures, our role goes beyond funding – we work closely with founders to help them scale technologies that can compete globally while being rooted in Saudi Arabia’s priorities. As the Kingdom strengthens AI governance, digital trust, and content authenticity regulations, solutions like Resemble AI’s deepfake detection and synthetic media safeguards directly support efforts to ensure secure, ethical AI adoption across public and private sectors.” mentioned Anas Algahtani, CEO of Wa’ed Ventures.
“The Middle East is facing an unprecedented surge in AI-generated fraud – deepfake incidents in Saudi Arabia alone increased 600% last year,” said Zohaib Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Resemble AI. “Organizations across the Gulf need detection capabilities they can deploy on their own infrastructure, with the speed and accuracy to catch threats in real-time. Wa’ed understands this urgency, and their backing accelerates our ability to bring that protection to the region.”
Resemble AI’s platform enables both cloud and on-premise deployment, allowing government, defense, and regulated organizations to analyze voice and audio content without sending sensitive data to external servers – a critical requirement across the region.
About Resemble AI
Resemble AI is a leader in AI voice generation and multimodal verification and deepfake detection, providing real-time solutions to combat AI-generated fraud. The company’s technology enables organizations to detect synthetic audio and media manipulation across both cloud and on-premise environments, supporting secure deployment in highly regulated industries. For more information, visit: https://www.resemble.ai/
About Wa’ed Ventures
Wa’ed Ventures is a $500 million institutional venture capital firm wholly owned by Aramco to promote economic diversification and new business growth in the Kingdom by investing in high-growth tech startups across multiple sectors. Established in 2013, Wa’ed Ventures manages a portfolio of 90+ startups, providing end-to-end support to startups from funding to providing access to partner resources. The company is located in the city of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. For more information, please visit: www.waed.com
For more information, please contact:
Nicolas Van Lierde
Email: nicolas.vanlierde@waed.com
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