Aramco's Wa’ed Ventures Invests In UK-based Ori

UK-based cloud infrastructure provider Ori has secured an undisclosed investment from Wa’ed Ventures, the venture arm of Aramco, as it looks to tap into the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in the Middle East. With Wa’ed Ventures’ backing, Ori is set to launch a regional subsidiary in Riyadh within the next 12 months, marking a strategic expansion aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative. 

Founded in 2019 by Mahdi Yahya, Ori specializes in large-scale AI model training, inference, and deployment for corporations, enterprises, and AI scaleups. The company operates across more than 20 locations, primarily in North America and Europe. 

We at Inc. Arabia spoke with Yahya, who is also the CEO of Ori, about the Kingdom’s rapid advancements in AI as a key factor in the company’s decision to enter the market. “Saudi Arabia is making huge strides to advance its AI industry. The government's $100 billion pledge to build data centers and AI infrastructure and its Vision 2030 initiative are key examples of this,” Yahya said. 

“Ori has the opportunity to be a key contributor to this strategy and the continued growth of the market, as well as to establish itself as the leading provider of AI compute services in the country — so our Saudi expansion feels like a no-brainer,” he added. 

Beyond policy and investment, Yahya pointed to Saudi Arabia’s energy advantages as a crucial factor. “Saudi Arabia also has some of the cheapest energy rates of any country. With the energy crunch in many other regions acting as a bottleneck to AI's growth and adoption, I think Saudi Arabia is becoming one of the most exciting and fast-moving AI ecosystems around the world. And we want to be a part of that.” 

As Ori moves ahead with its Saudi expansion, its partnership with Wa’ed Ventures underscores a shared commitment to advancing AI infrastructure in the region. Wa’ed Ventures, which manages a $500 million fund, has previously supported startups such as AI chipmaker Rebellions. 

Yahya also opened up about the opportunities ahead and the challenges Ori expects to navigate as it carves out its place in the fast-growing AI market. “I think the biggest challenge for us in the Saudi market will actually be keeping up with the huge demand for AI compute services, as adoption of AI continues to ramp up,” he explained. “We've got ambitious targets for growth and market share here — and the challenge will be in moving fast enough to meet them. It’s as much an opportunity as it is a challenge, and one we’re looking forward to taking on.” 

With Ori looking to launch a regional subsidiary for its Saudi operations, Yahya emphasized the importance of local talent development. “Talent is also a positive challenge and opportunity we’re looking to take on. We want to act as a hub for fostering and supporting local talent to support our own growth as well as the ecosystem around us.” 

As for the future of AI infrastructure and how Ori is positioning itself at the forefront of emerging industry trends, Yahya stressed that, as AI adoption accelerates, the biggest shift reshaping the sector will be the speed and scale of adoption. “The biggest trend in AI infrastructure for 2025 and beyond will be faster and wider-scale adoption of AI by non-AI firms right across the board, all the way from law to manufacturing—and the changes the industry will undergo to support this adoption.” 

He told us that Ori’s software and platform-based solutions make its technology more accessible to non-AI firms, setting it apart from traditional infrastructure providers. “At Ori, our approach has always been unique, in that we have a software and platform-based approach — not just a brick-and-mortar infrastructure approach, which is typical of the industry,” Yahya explained. “We’ve found that this focus on software has been most critical when supporting AI adoption at non-AI firms, that require an end-to-end service with more support and flexibility than their tech-native counterparts.” 

He added, “So I think we’re going to see the AI infrastructure industry react over the coming years by putting an increased focus on software and platform-based services to support their underlying infrastructure.” 

Yahya also shared insights for entrepreneurs considering expansion into new regions. “First things first — be prepared. It’s a lot of work, and it’s not for everyone,” he cautioned. “But most importantly, I'd say they need to get on the ground and familiarize themselves as much as possible with the local culture.” 

He added, “What founders know about their current market can often be made redundant in new markets, and it’s impossible to understand customer expectations, business culture, talent requirements, and the mechanisms through which trade is conducted in new markets if they haven’t immersed themselves in them.” 

Moreover, he advised against relying too heavily on existing resources. “I’d also tell them that they shouldn’t expect to be able to export everything they need to the new market. They’ll have to — and should — be looking to hire and develop local talent, on top of building entirely new networks of contacts, and learning much of what they know about their industry again from scratch.” 

Pictured on image Ori's founder and CEO Mahdi Yahya. Image courtesy Ori.