Applied AI, one of the Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence startups building AI-native workflow solutions for regulated industries, announced that is has successfully completed a Pre-Series B round led by the MENA Venture Capital Fund at Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor, and Arbor Ventures, a global venture capital investor. This investment will support the global scale-up of its enterprise AI platform ‘Opus’, designed for mission-critical operations.
The Pre-Series B reflects a shared conviction that the next phase of AI adoption will be defined not by experimentation, but by operational trust, measurable productivity, and global deployability. The backing reinforces AppliedAI’s role as an emerging private-sector AI national champion in Abu Dhabi.
In 2025, AppliedAI launched Opus, its flagship AI-native workflow platform, which enables large organizations to redesign, automate, and supervise complex operational processes in highly regulated environments. Purpose-built for highly regulated sectors such as healthcare, insurance, banking, energy, and government, Opus integrates agentic AI with human oversight, auditability, and security and allows enterprises to achieve sustained, order-of-magnitude productivity improvements while maintaining full governance and control.
Headquartered in Abu Dhabi and with over 350 employees and active deployments across the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, AppliedAI is among the UAE’s most established exporters of enterprise AI technology. The majority of Opus pilots have transitioned to production settings where accuracy, resilience, and compliance are non-negotiable, supporting organizations as they transition from manual, document-intensive operations to AI-native workflows at scale.
As AI adoption accelerates globally, the constraint has shifted from model capability to institutional readiness. Enterprises require systems that can operate within real regulatory, security, and operational boundaries while delivering measurable economic impact. AppliedAI addresses this gap by focusing on mission-critical workflows where trust, accountability, and performance coexist.
For the UAE, the investment reflects a broader ambition to enable private-sector-led enterprise technology platforms that complement national AI capabilities and extend Abu Dhabi’s role as an international hub for applied innovation at scale.
Arya Bolurfrushan, Founder and CEO, AppliedAI, said: “This partnership reflects a shared belief that the future of enterprise AI will be defined by trust, scale, and operational substance. With the support of Mubadala and Arbor Ventures, we will accelerate the global expansion of Opus while continuing to build an enduring global AI company from Abu Dhabi.”
Ali Eid AlMheiri, Executive Director, Diversified Assets, UAE Investments Platform at Mubadala, said: ” At Mubadala, we are committed to empowering local champions with the ambition and capability to lead on the international stage. Through the MENA Venture Capital Fund our investments in AppliedAI supports our vision to nurture transformative technology leaders from the MENA region who can set new global benchmarks in innovation and responsible AI. AppliedAI’s Opus platform exemplifies the kind of scalable, secure, and industry-focused solutions that empower both regional and international organizations to unlock value in regulated sectors and drive digital transformation across key industries.”
Khaled Lababidi, Partner at Arbor Ventures, said: “AppliedAI represents the convergence of three powerful trends: enterprise AI adoption, regulatory complexity, and the need for operational transformation. Their proven ability to deploy at scale with Fortune 500 clients demonstrates both technical excellence and commercial maturity. We’re excited to support their expansion both in the UAE and across key international markets.”
