Participated · Seed · Jun 2026

Terraxy commercializes Carbosoil, a soil enhancer developed from KAUST research intended to improve degraded sandy soils and store carbon in soils for long periods. The company reports that Carbosoil can boost plant growth and yields by up to 70% using the same water and nutrient inputs. Terraxy has advanced through MEWA’s Regulatory Sandbox and benefited from support by KAUST’s National Transformation Institute during its lab-to-pilot progression. The startup plans to scale from pilot to industrial production and build a 30,000-square-metre commercial facility in Al Zulfi. Financially, Terraxy raised $3 million in a Seed-2 round led by Waed Ventures with participation from KAUST. Its positioning targets both land restoration and carbon management opportunities within Saudi Arabia’s broader environmental and economic initiatives.

Led · Convertible Note · Aug 2024

Verofax is an Abu Dhabi, UAE-based Web3 services company that applies patented Web3 technologies—blockchain, augmented reality and artificial intelligence—to provide elevated tourist, shopper and brand marketing experiences. Its core product combines AI-powered guides, AR experiences and blockchain-enabled engagement to turn destinations, retailers and sports stadiums interactive and drive conversion and social virality. The company leverages gamification and direct brand-to-customer engagement to increase consumer intimacy and measurable results from AI and AR experiences. Verofax serves retail, tourism and sports sectors and is used by brands such as Anheuser Busch Inc and Emirates Airlines. Led by CEO Wassim Merheby, it raised $3M in bridge funding to execute a pipeline of projects across the Middle East and EU, including AI-powered guides in the GCC and sports fan guides in the EU and North America. The funding is intended to support commercialization and deployment of its solutions across venues and brands. Verofax provides asset digitization and 'Traceability as a Service' using patented technology that incorporates blockchain, augmented reality and artificial intelligence. Its platform enables brands to turn offline products interactive, manage supply chains, fend off counterfeit activity and improve manufacturers' productivity. Brands can extend reach directly to end consumers, increase consumer intimacy through direct engagement, and leverage NFTs and metaverse experiences. The company's solutions target industries such as retail and CPG and are already used by leading brands including Anheuser Busch Inc. Verofax is a Microsoft Gold partner, has a global network of distributors and resellers, and co-sells on enterprise platforms including Microsoft Appsource, Amazon AWS and Ant Group Antchain. Led by CEO Wassim Merheby, Verofax closed a $1.5M pre-Series A round and plans to use the funds to expand global sales and marketing ahead of a planned Series A later in 2022. Verofax provides an automation and traceability platform that enables Item ID serialization, traceability, and transaction certification on a private blockchain to prevent counterfeiting, boost manufacturer-consumer engagement, and increase staff productivity through data insights. Founded in 2018 and led by Wassim Merheby and Jamil Zablah, the company is headquartered in Abu Dhabi and also maintains an office in Kuala Lumpur. Verofax has established partnerships with a sustainable retailer in Asia and set up joint ventures across Asia, Africa and the GCC. It has been approved as a co-sell partner by Microsoft, Oracle and AntGroup. The company secured $1.2M in seed funding and intends to use the proceeds to serve its pipeline of projects, launch a marketing campaign targeting the food, healthcare and apparel industries, and hire 20 additional team members, mainly software developers and business development managers.

Led · Equity · May 2019

Red Sea Farms develops CEA technologies and salt-tolerant crop varieties that enable greenhouses and indoor farms to use saltwater (diluted up to 30%) for cooling and irrigation. The company focuses mainly on tomatoes and says its proprietary system produces sweeter fruit with high levels of vitamins and antioxidants while saving as much as 90% of the freshwater typically required for growing tomatoes. Spun out of KAUST in 2018, Red Sea Farms combines plant science, sustainable cooling, light and energy management, and AI-driven systems. It is using recent funding to develop its first commercial-scale indoor farms and to expand into the UAE, with plans to grow to four–eight facilities across central and western Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi covering about six hectares. With new US investors on board, the company also plans to explore growth opportunities in the United States. Red Sea Farms is engaged in discussions with prospective investors about a next fundraising round slated for next year. Red Sea Farms develops saltwater-tolerant crops and a patent-pending saltwater-based greenhouse system that can be retrofitted into existing greenhouses. The company secured $1.9 million in funding to build a 2,000 square meter saltwater greenhouse in Saudi Arabia. Built on six years of research at KAUST, Red Sea Farms plans to produce 50 tons of tomatoes a year starting in 2020, growing plants in up to 30% diluted seawater. The system is intended to replace up to 90% of the freshwater usually used in tomato production and to reduce energy requirements up to tenfold compared with previous methods. The company aims to retrofit 5% of Saudi Arabia’s greenhouses and offers farmers a projected return on investment of less than two years. Investors include the KAUST Innovation Fund and the Research Products Development Company (RPDC), in the first co-investment between those two organizations to support high-tech entrepreneurs in the Kingdom.

Participated · Series A · Feb 2017

QD Solar is a University of Toronto spin-out developing colloidal quantum-dot materials as an insert for conventional silicon solar panels to absorb wavelengths outside silicon's normal range. Its first product is designed to provide a significant efficiency uplift—the company claims it can boost panel energy output by one-fifth and add about four percentage points to typical silicon cell efficiency (from ~20% to ~24%). The firm says it has demonstrated the first tandem solar cell based on colloidal quantum-dot materials and holds two key patents with another pending. QD Solar's leadership includes CEO Don Shea and CTO Ted Sargent, with Sjoerd Hoogland as VP of research and development. The company intends to use recent financing and prior project support to advance, develop, test and de-risk the technology and bring it closer to market. The article highlights scaling and cost as the main challenges for adoption, noting the PV market's intense price competition and the need for manufacturers to differentiate on performance.

Led · Equity · Jun 2016

NOMADD develops a NO-water Mechanical Automated Dusting Device to clean photovoltaic modules. The system is reported to have eight patents pending and uses only three moving parts. The company claims the device can remove 99.6% of dust with a cost-effective daily cleaning regime. NOMADD plans to use new funding to further market its cleaning technology in Saudi Arabia, hire key staff, and carry out testing activities with potential customers. CEO Jos van der Hyden said the dust mitigation technology will help make solar energy viable in the GCC region and expressed gratitude for the vote of confidence represented by the funding.