GCC- and UK-Based Startup 1001 Bags US$30 Million Series A To Expand Its AI Platform For Critical Infrastructure

1001, an artificial intelligence (AI) company based out of the GCC and UK, has secured US$30 million in a Series A funding round led by New York-based venture capital (VC) firm Lux Capital, as it looks to accelerate the deployment of its AI platform for critical infrastructure across the Gulf.  

The round also drew participation from investment firms like KSA-based Sanabil Investments, US-based 9Yards Capital, and US-based Hanabi, while existing investors, including American VC firm General Catalyst and Chris Ré, an AI researcher at the US’ Stanford University, increased their commitments. Individual investors included notable names from the regional and global startup ecosystem like Karim Atiyeh, Kareem Amin, Russell Kaplan, Shayan Shafii, Daniel Garber, and Junaid Hussain.  

Founded in 2025 by Jordanian entrepreneur Bilal Abu-Ghazaleh, 1001 develops AI systems that create a live digital model of critical infrastructure assets, operational processes, dependencies, and constraints. With its technology designed for deployment across aviation, ports and logistics, energy, manufacturing, and other industrial operations, 1001 aims to help operators anticipate disruptions, improve decision-making, and recommend or execute responses across complex physical systems, while enabling customers to build, own, and govern the technology locally.  

In an interview with Inc. Arabia, Abu-Ghazaleh shared that 1001 came into being thanks to his belief that the next industrial leap will come from AI that changes how the physical world actually runs. He also shared that choosing to build 1001 in the Middle East—home to some of the world's most critical infrastructure—was a deliberate decision.  

“For years, our region was treated as a source of capital,” Abu-Ghazaleh explained. “A place that funds technology rather than builds it. I think that era is over. The shift now is from capital to capability. From writing the check to owning the technology. The systems that run our most critical infrastructure should not be rented from abroad. They should be built, owned, and governed here. So, our mission is simple. We are building the AI operating system for critical infrastructure. The decision layer for the institutions that move the physical world. And we are building it here, in the region, for the region.” 

It’s a vision that has resonated with investors, with 1001’s early backers including names like Replit’s Amjad Masad, DAMAC Properties’ Amira Sajwani, Raed Ventures’ Khalid Bin Bader Al Saud, and Lean Technologies’ Hisham Al-Falih. As for the new investors 1001 secured for its latest round, Abu-Ghazaleh said that they came on board because of three key factors.  

"First, the market,” Abu-Ghazaleh shared. “This is a huge opportunity, and our investors share the conviction that this region can lead the world in applied AI—not AI in a lab, but AI that runs the real economy. The reasons are structural. We run some of the largest and most demanding infrastructure on the planet; so, the scale is here. Decisions move fast, because there is clarity of direction. In much of the world, putting AI into a single airport means negotiating with a dozen separate parties before anything moves. Here, a good idea goes from decision to deployment quickly. And the region has the means and the appetite to invest. That combination is rare. Second, how we ship. According to a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), over 95 percent of AI projects die in the pilot stage. We work differently. We embed our engineers inside the customer's operation, find the decisions where better calls mean real value, and stay until it is live in production and paying off on their own numbers. We do not hand over a clever demo or a proof of concept and leave. Third, the team. We have pulled people from the frontier of global AI, and they are building here, for the region. Talent and traction in one place. That is rare too.” 

It’s perhaps unsurprising, then, that the new capital 1001 has secured will be used to scale its team, especially in the engineering division, with the company having already recruited talent from top-tier educational institutions like Yale University, Stanford University, and Carnegie Mellon University. The company is also strengthening its commercial and go-to-market operations across key GCC markets, and with 1001 thus set to enter its next stage of growth, Abu-Ghazaleh said that the company's focus remains firmly on delivering measurable outcomes for customers before expanding its footprint further. “Our priority is simple, and our investors are aligned on it: deliver real value to our customers,” he said. “Everything else follows from that. On sectors, we go where a single better decision is worth the most. That means the operations that run the physical world: aviation, ports and logistics, energy, construction, manufacturing, industrials. We are already seeing strong demand across the board. We will go deeper before we go wider.”  

Beyond customer adoption, however, Abu-Ghazaleh said that 1001 is also concentrating on building the capabilities needed for continued execution. “We are scaling the platform so that each new deployment is faster than the last,” he explained. “The first use case for a customer is the hardest, because we build the full picture of their operation from scratch. After that, every new use case gets quicker and the value compounds. And we are scaling the team, pulling world-class talent home to build it. The measure we hold ourselves to is value created inside live operations. Our job now is to deliver real value, repeat it, and compound it.” 

That emphasis on creating real value also shapes the guidance Abu-Ghazaleh has for his fellow entrepreneurs in the Middle East. “My advice is to go where the value actually is, not where the attention is,” Abu-Ghazaleh said. “The real return is deep inside how a business runs, in the unglamorous operations most people skip. That work is harder. It takes longer. You have to embed, earn trust, and stay until something is live. But it is the only part that creates lasting value, and almost no one is willing to do it. That is your edge. Pick the hard problem on purpose.”  

According to Abu-Ghazaleh, such an approach has proved particularly resilient amid the ongoing geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East. “The region has been through a lot lately,” he admitted. “But the work we do is the kind that holds up in exactly those moments. When things are uncertain, operators care even more about resilience, control, and keeping critical systems running. Demand did not soften. If anything, the case for sovereign capability, owning the technology that runs your own infrastructure, got stronger. We closed our round and kept deploying through all of it.” 

For Abu-Ghazaleh, 1001’s experience also underscores the region's long-term approach to AI. “The deeper point is that this region treats AI as national strategy, not a side project,” he pointed out. “That commitment does not flicker with the headlines. It is patient capital and patient ambition, and that is a real advantage for anyone building for the long term.”

Pictured in the lead image is Jordanian entrepreneur Bilal Abu-Ghazaleh. Image courtesy 1001.