KSA-Based Lucidya Raises US$30 Million In A Series B Round

Lucidya, a KSA-based artificial intelligence (AI)-powered customer experience management (CXM) platform, has secured US$30 million in a Series B funding round, making it the largest AI-focused raise in the region to date.  

The round was led by investors like Impact46, known for backing homegrown startup successes like Jahez and Rasan, Wa’ed Ventures, the investment arm of Saudi oil giant Aramco, Takamol Ventures, a government-supported digital innovation fund, and global venture capital firm, SparkLabs. Returning backers Rua Growth Fund and ARG also participated, reinforcing their continued confidence in Lucidya’s growth path. 

Founded by Abdullah Asiri in 2016 in Saudi Arabia, Lucidya operates across 11 countries in the MENA region, supporting clients in sectors such as telecom, banking and finance, healthcare, hospitality, and government, and impacting more than 75 million users.  

In an interview with Inc. Arabia, Asiri, who’s also the CEO of Lucidya, explained that the company’s strength lies in the years of domain-specific expertise behind its offerings. “What truly sets Lucidya apart is not just our Arabic-language AI engine—it’s the eight years of end-to-end know-how we’ve built around it,” he said. “We’re the only company in the MENA with this depth of experience in building AI models, developing AI-powered applications, and successfully commercializing them across diverse industries.” 

Lucidya’s platform is built around a proprietary Arabic-native AI engine, boasting over 92 percent accuracy, which has set new standards for the industry at large. This technology enables advanced insights, smarter engagement, and automation across customer experience channels where most solutions underperform. The company is positioning itself to capture a significant share of the MENA’s fast-growing customer relationship management (CRM) and customer experience (CX) software market, which is expected to hit $9 billion by 2030.

Lucidya's model, Asiri explained, was built on the company’s proprietary dataset, which has been key to maintaining its leadership in the industry. “In addition to our expertise, we possess a massive proprietary dataset—billions of Arabic-language data points collected over the past eight years,” he shared. “This gives us a clear advantage when it comes to training, refining, and scaling high-performing Arabic AI models, which is something very few—if any—regional players can replicate.” 

Asiri emphasized that while the new investment unlocks global potential, the company’s immediate focus is firmly rooted in the region. “At this stage, our primary focus remains on fortifying our leadership in the MENA region,” he said. “We’re doubling down on our mission to be the market leader in AI-powered customer experience, marketing intelligence, and market research solutions for Arabic-speaking markets. The MENA is where our roots are, and it’s where we’ve built a deep understanding of the language, culture, and business landscape—something few AI players globally can claim.” 

And while Lucidya’s unique selling proposition (USP) in the region might be its proprietary Arabic platform, the company has built into its system an equally strong English-language capability. This, Asiri believes, will be key to the company’s expansion beyond the MENA when the time is right. “Expanding beyond MENA is absolutely part of our roadmap. While our core strength lies in our deep Arabic natural language processing (NLP) capabilities and our unmatched understanding of Arabic consumer behavior, Lucidya is equally powerful in English," Asiri said. "Our technology is built to be multilingual, and that’s why we already serve customers in the US, the UK, and Pakistan—markets that aren’t Arabic-first, but see value in the innovation and capabilities we bring to the table."

Asiri also pointed out that Lucidya’s technology is not only competitive, but in some cases ahead of global benchmarks. “We strongly believe that the level of innovation we’ve reached is globally competitive—and in some areas, even ahead of international players,” he said. “As AI reshapes industries worldwide, we see a clear opportunity to export our technology first across MENA, and then to broader markets where demand for high-performance, domain-specific AI is growing rapidly.” 

In addition to expanding globally, Lucidya is also testing the waters to license its AI technology. “We’re currently running a pilot program that allows select companies to leverage our engine through licensing or integration," he said. "This initiative is just the beginning, and we expect it to grow into a broader offering that enables partners to benefit from our world-class Arabic AI without needing to build from scratch. Our goal is to not only maintain our leadership but also to enable the broader ecosystem—by making Arabic AI more accessible, reliable, and impactful for everyone."

The latest funding round will also help Lucidya scale its AI agent technology, which Asiri pointed out is already seeing rapid uptake across sectors where customer interaction is both high-volume and high-stakes. “We’re seeing early traction across sectors with high volumes of customer engagement, particularly in telecom, government services, banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), and retail,” he said. “These industries are under increasing pressure to deliver faster, more personalized service at scale—without compromising on compliance or quality.” 

He added that Lucidya’s technology is designed not just to replace tasks, but to enhance workforce structure overall. “Our AI agents are designed to significantly reduce the need for large customer-facing teams by handling high-volume, repetitive interactions with greater speed, accuracy, and compliance,” he said. “This translates into major cost savings and operational efficiency for our clients—without compromising the quality of service.”

According to Asiri, the shift is most immediate in customer-facing roles, where AI can quickly reduce manual load and boost efficiency. “In terms of job roles, the first wave of transformation is happening in customer-facing positions,” Asiri said. “We’re starting with roles like contact center agents, customer support reps, social media community managers, and even some functions in sales and marketing. These are areas where AI agents can quickly take over repetitive, high-volume interactions, enabling human teams to shift their focus to more strategic, creative, and high-impact work.”  

That shift, however, isn’t about removing people from the equation. “Our goal isn’t to eliminate people—it’s to redefine their role,” Asiri clarified. “AI handles the routine, so human teams can focus on more strategic, complex, and value-adding tasks. In many of our client organizations, we’re already seeing employees evolve into supervisors of AI workflows, content curators, and customer experience strategists. The impact is two-fold: lower workforce costs, and a more empowered, high-impact human team.” 

As for how the market is reacting to such offerings, Asiri shared that the reception so far has been highly encouraging. “Clients are responding with strong enthusiasm," he said. "What they’re looking for is scalability, consistency, and personalization at scale—without sacrificing compliance, especially with regulations like Saudi Arabia’s Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL). Our enterprise-grade AI agents are designed with these exact needs in mind, and many of our clients already see them as an extension of their teams, not just a tool. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive—they recognize this is the future of workforce transformation, and they’re excited to be early adopters.” 

Having secured the backing of Impact46—the Saudi VC behind listed companies like Jahez and Rasan—Asiri noted that, while going public isn't an immediate focus for Lucidya, it remains a meaningful long-term ambition for the company. “Going public is naturally an aspiration for many high-growth companies, and it would certainly be a significant milestone—not just for Lucidya, but for the Kingdom as a whole,” he said. “Having a homegrown AI company founded by Saudi entrepreneurs listed on the Saudi markets would send a powerful message about the region’s innovation and leadership in emerging technologies.” 

However, Asiri emphasized that Lucidya’s current focus is firmly on execution. “This investment round is about one thing: delivering more value to our customers," Asiri declared. "We’re using the funding to double down on our technology, expand our product capabilities, and further enhance the service and experience we deliver to our clients. Our priority is to continue enabling organizations to deliver exceptional customer experiences—at scale, and with efficiency—through Lucidya’s AI-powered solutions. If we do that well, the path to an initial public offering (IPO) and beyond will unfold naturally.”  

Pictured in the lead image is the Lucidya team with HE Abdullah Alswaha, the KSA's Minister of Communications and Information Technology. Courtesy of Lucidya.