Saudi Arabia-Based Aumet Nets US$12 Million Series A Led By Emkan Capital

US-born, Saudi Arabia-based healthtech company Aumet has pocketed US$12 million in a Series A funding round led by Saudi venture capital (VC) firm Emkan Capital. 

The round included participation from Qatar Development Bank (QDB), Azerbaijan-headquartered SABAH Fund, and Singapore-based consulting and investment firm AAIC, alongside participation from existing investors such as the UAE-based Shorooq and San Francisco-based Right Side Capital Management. Strategic healthcare investors, including Saudi Arabia-based distribution company Cigalah Group and KSA-based pharmaceutical distributor Salehiya Trading Company, also participated in the round.  

First founded in the US in 2016 by Yahya Aqel, with Adel Haddad and Shahed Jaber joining later as co-founders, Aumet develops an AI-first procurement operating system for healthcare providers and pharmacies across Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. From 2016 until 2020, the company focused on connecting pharmaceutical manufacturers with distributors across the healthcare supply chain, before shifting its strategy in 2021, following the COVID-19 pandemic, to become an AI-first procurement operating system for healthcare. Starting in 2021, Aumet began developing a marketplace and inventory management solution to gather large-scale operational data while developing an AI-powered procurement and forecasting engine for healthcare systems, and today, from its base in Saudi Arabia, it has scaled its operations across pharmacies, hospitals, suppliers, and healthcare networks. 

The new funding will support the expansion of Aumet’s artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, enterprise deployments, and regional growth across the GCC and select international markets. In an interview with Inc. Arabia, Aqel, co-founder and CEO of Aumet, said that investor interest in the company’s latest funding round was driven by its ability to combine operational scale with a broader infrastructure-focused approach to healthcare procurement and supply chains.

“I believe what convinced investors was the combination of scale, execution, and vision," Aqel told Inc. Arabia. "Aumet has already processed more than $1 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV), powered over five million yearly transactions, connected 12,000+ pharmacies covering both Asia (Saudi Arabia and Jordan), along with Africa (Egypt), and 1,000+ suppliers, while also deploying its enterprise AI procurement OS across hospitals, medical centers, and warehouses. Investors saw that we were not just building software, but creating the infrastructure layer for healthcare procurement in emerging markets in three different locations. The ability to combine marketplace data, enterprise resource planning (ERP) workflows, and AI into one ecosystem created a very strong differentiation.” 

Aumet co-founders Yahya Aqel and Adel Haddad.

Aumet’s product suite includes Pulse, a cloud-based platform for pharmacies that combines inventory management, marketplace services, and AI-powered procurement tools; Chain, which supports centralized procurement for pharmacy chains; and Enterprise, an AI-powered procurement operating system designed for hospitals, ministries of health, and healthcare networks. 

Its Enterprise solution was first deployed at Al-Basheer Hospital in Jordan before later expanding across 32 hospitals, more than 500 medical centers, and over 18 medical warehouses through collaborations with Jordan’s Ministry of Health and Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship. The company has also partnered with Abu Dhabi-based big data analytics and AI company Presight to expand its procurement operating system across the UAE's public healthcare sector. 

As Aumet now looks to deepen its footprint in the GCC, Aqel identified Saudi Arabia as a key market shaping the company’s next phase of growth, particularly amid ongoing healthcare digitization efforts across the Kingdom. “Saudi Arabia is one of the most ambitious healthcare transformation markets globally today," Aqel said. "The Kingdom's Vision 2030 is accelerating digitization and operational efficiency across healthcare systems, which creates a massive opportunity for AI-driven procurement infrastructure. We believe the Kingdom can become the regional hub for scaling healthcare AI technologies, especially with institutions like the Ministry of Health and National Unified Procurement Company pushing toward more advanced procurement and supply chain systems. For Aumet, Saudi Arabia is not just a market—it is a strategic launchpad for regional and global expansion.” 

With Aumet also scaling its operations across markets in Asia and North Africa, Aqel said the company has seen firsthand how healthcare systems in emerging markets present a different set of operational realities and infrastructure gaps compared to their more mature peers. “Emerging markets contribute differently because the problems are fundamentally more complex," he said. "Healthcare systems in emerging markets are often fragmented, supply chains are less digitized, and inefficiencies are significantly higher. While mature markets focus on optimization, emerging markets require rebuilding the operational infrastructure itself. This creates a unique opportunity for companies like Aumet to innovate faster and create solutions with very high real-world impact. In many cases, emerging markets can leapfrog older systems directly into AI-native infrastructure.” 

Reflecting on the broader healthcare infrastructure sector, Aqel also shared his advice for founders building in operationally complex industries such as healthcare, emphasizing the importance of execution, trust, and long-term thinking. “Focus on solving real operational pain points, not only building technology," he said. "Healthcare is a very trust-driven industry, and success requires patience, deep domain understanding, and the ability to execute consistently over long periods. Also, data is becoming the most important asset in healthcare AI. The companies that will win are those capable of combining operational workflows, distribution, and AI into one integrated ecosystem.”

Pictured in the lead image is the Aumet team. All images courtesy Aumet.