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ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Shorooq and Presight, a G42 company listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, have invested in US-based Maven Robotics as part of a $100 million financing round, according to a statement.
The investment was made through the Presight–Shorooq AI and Bedaya Funds, managed by Shorooq, alongside RoboStrategy, LocalGlobe, Vine Ventures and XTX Ventures, the statement said.
Founded in 2024 and based in Santa Clara, California, Maven Robotics develops intelligent robots for logistics and manufacturing. Its initial focus is on mixed-case palletising and tote handling, which the statement said represent an estimated $80 billion addressable market.
Maven's robots are already operating for up to 16 hours a day at customer sites with reliability of more than 99%, according to the statement.
The company plans to build 250 of its third-generation machines as it expands its warehouse automation business.
The new capital will be used to expand Maven's third-generation robot fleet and design a fourth generation as the company moves from palletising into broader materials-handling applications.
Bilal Baloch, Partner at Shorooq, said the investment reflected the firm's focus on companies applying artificial intelligence to real-world operations.
“The first wave of AI reshaped how we work with information; the next will reshape how the physical economy runs, and that is a far larger prize,” Baloch said.
“What sets Maven apart is that Hamza and his team are not chasing a research benchmark — they are solving one industrial problem at a time, with the discipline and return-on-investment focus that real operators demand. Backing a company like this, from Abu Dhabi into Silicon Valley, is precisely what it means to invest in the frontier from the region, for the world,” he added.
The statement said the investment brings together Shorooq's investment and company-building capabilities with Presight's expertise in applied AI and its access to the wider G42 AI and computing ecosystem.
Thomas Pramotedham, Chief Executive Officer of Presight, said AI creates value when it can operate reliably in real business environments.
“AI creates value when it works reliably in the environments where businesses operate,” Pramotedham said. “Maven is applying intelligence to the physical work of moving and handling goods, where performance is measured in operational results.”
“Through the Presight–Shorooq Fund I, we aim to support companies like Maven with capital, applied AI expertise and relationships that can help them scale. This investment reflects our belief that the value of intelligence is realised through its application,” he added.
Maven develops wheeled, dual-armed autonomous robots designed to perform industrial tasks from beginning to end, initially focusing on mixed palletising in distribution and logistics operations. The company is emerging from stealth following the $100 million financing.
Hamza Derbas, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Maven Robotics, said the company's objective was to address industrial labour requirements rather than compete in developing the largest AI models.
“We're not in the race to build the biggest model — we're in the race to solve industrial labour and make this work possible at the scale the world needs,” Derbas said.
“Shorooq and Presight understood that from the first conversation. Beyond the capital, they bring an ecosystem — compute, data and enterprise relationships — that helps us deploy faster and reach customers we might not have reached alone. We also see the region a node from where we can take our robots global,” he added.
