Intella, a deeptech startup headquartered in Saudi Arabia with Egyptian roots, has successfully concluded a pre-Series A funding round, securing a substantial $3.4 million. The primary investors in this round include HALA Ventures and Wa’ed Ventures, the venture capital arm of Aramco, with additional contributions from Sanabil 500 and INSEAD’s alumni angel network, among others. This infusion of capital will serve a dual purpose: supporting Intella’s expansion into the Saudi market and facilitating the development of AI models tailored specifically for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Why the Investors Invested
The investors’ decision to contribute to Intella’s funding round is underpinned by several compelling factors. In the first place, the relocation of Intella’s headquarters from Cairo to Riyadh in 2023 aligns strategically with Saudi Arabia’s growing tech and AI landscape. The Kingdom is rapidly becoming a hub for technological advancements, and investors recognize the potential for significant growth and innovation in this market. As Nour Altaher, CEO and Co-founder of Intella, noted, this move perfectly complements their expansion plans.
In addition to its strategic location, Intella boasts impressive achievements in AI technology. The startup subjected its system to rigorous testing, logging over 30,000 hours of Arabic audio. The results, particularly with Intella Voice, are remarkable, with a staggering 95.73% accuracy rate. This surpasses well-established tech leaders like Google’s speech-to-text, Open AI’s whisper, Meta’s seamless M4T, and IBM Watson. This technological prowess positions Intella as a frontrunner in the field of Arabic voice technology.
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Moreover, Intella is not content with merely offering transcription services. It is venturing into audio analytics, encompassing functions such as summarization, sentiment analysis, topic extraction, and call scoring. This demonstrates their commitment to pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve in the realm of voice technology in the MENA region.
The investors, led by HALA Ventures, recognize Intella’s pivotal role in bridging the gap between the Arab-speaking world and global AI advancements. They view Intella’s mission as crucial in ensuring the region remains relevant in the ever-evolving landscape of technological trends. This aligns with the growing demand for specialized Arabic voice technology, positioning Intella favorably to cater to the unique needs of the Middle East.
A Look at Intella
Intella, founded in 2021 by Nour Altaher and Omar Mansour, is a deeptech company headquartered in Saudi Arabia. Its core focus is on providing real-time, on-demand market research services to businesses across various sectors. As part of its strategy for growth and innovation, Intella relocated its headquarters from Cairo to Riyadh in 2023 to tap into the burgeoning tech and AI scene in Saudi Arabia.
Intella’s unique selling point lies in its exceptional AI technology, particularly in the domain of Arabic voice. Through rigorous testing and development, they achieved a remarkable 95.73% accuracy rate in Arabic audio processing, outperforming global tech giants. Intella’s offerings extend beyond transcription to encompass advanced audio analytics, including summarization, sentiment analysis, topic extraction, and call scoring.
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The startup’s mission is to connect the Arab-speaking world with the forefront of AI progress, ensuring that the region remains a significant player in the global tech landscape. With the infusion of $3.4 million in funding, Intella is well-positioned to expand its presence in the MENA region, enhance its product portfolio, and solidify its leadership in voice technology innovation. The demand for specialized Arabic voice technology is on the rise, and Intella is poised to meet these needs and contribute to the region’s technological advancement.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard