• Lucidya AI, announced on Tuesday that it has completed a new $50 million Fund Fund AIM AI.
  • The fund will support AI startups at its AIM-X accelerator in Saudi Arabia as well as other AI startups around the world.

OUR TAKE
SparkLabs’ new fund and its broader investment goals highlight a larger trend around AI over the past few years. Interest in generative AI, in particular, has exploded, leading to a proliferation of startups in the field. As the technology matures and applications expand, we can expect this area to continue to attract significant investment and innovation.
— Iydia Ding, BTW reporter

What happened

SparkLabs is an early-stage venture capital firm known for backing OpenAI, as well as many other AI startups like Vectara, Allganize, Kneron, Anthropic, xAI, Glade, and Lucidya AI. The company is preparing to double down on more startups in the space. The venture capital firm announced Tuesday that it has closed a new $50 million Fund, AIM AI Fund, that will back AI startups at its AIM-X accelerator in Saudi Arabia, as well as other AI startups around the world.

SparkLabs’ new fund and its broader investment goals highlight a larger trend around AI over the past few years. The explosion of interest in generative AI in particular, which has led to a proliferation of startups in the field and a wave of investors looking for the next open AI, also underscores how AI capabilities continue to expand beyond Silicon Valley. AIM-X is an AI-focused startup accelerator that SparkLabs launched in Saudi Arabia earlier this year as part of its AI Mission, a nationwide initiative aimed at advancing AI technology over the next five years.

Also read: SoftBank joins $130M fund to boost AI startups

Also read: UK leads Europe in GenAI startups, Accel reveals

Why it’s important

According to SparkLabs co-founder and partner Bernard Moon, about 35 percent of the new SparkLabs fund will be allocated to support accelerator participants, with the remaining 65 percent going to Series A and B investments outside of Saudi Arabia. The first partners will be announced live next Tuesday, September 10, during the GAIN (Global AI Summit) in Riyadh. Moon said in an interview that SparkLabs has invested in 14 startups through its AI fund.

AIM-X is an AI-focused startup accelerator that SparkLabs launched in Saudi Arabia earlier this year as part of its AI mission, a national initiative aimed at advancing AI technology over the next five years, which also highlights how AI capabilities continue to expand beyond Silicon Valley. SparkLabs’ new fund and its broader investment goals highlight a larger trend around AI over the past few years. Interest in generative AI, in particular, has exploded, leading to a proliferation of startups in the field. As the technology matures and applications expand, we can expect this area to continue to attract significant investment and innovation.