Cairo-based AI startup Nanovate raised USD 1 mn in a pre-seed funding round led by a group of regional and international angel investors, according to a company statement (pdf). The funding comes just nine months after the company began operations in January 2025.

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Where is the money going? The funding will support Nanovate’s expansion into Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with new offices planned in Riyadh and Dubai to serve enterprise clients, government projects, and channel partners, Co-Founder and CEO Ahmed Ismail told EnterpriseAM. The company will also use the proceeds to enhance its core technology — improving the multilingual capabilities and voice quality of its flagship AI agent Niva, upgrading its automation dashboard, and developing voice cloning and personalization tools for businesses.

That’s not all: Additional investments will go toward building a regional team to support clients, strengthening sales and reseller programs, and exploring light hardware R&D, including the development of NivaPod, a smart voice-enabled device for Arabic-speaking offices and retail spaces.

Nanovate? “Our mission is to bridge that gap by creating a full ecosystem of Arabic-first AI agents that help every business in the region work smarter, faster, and in their own language,” Ismail told us. According to him, more than 9 mn companies across MENA lose productivity daily due to manual operations, and 75% of customers churn because the technology they use is not designed for Arabic-speaking users. With only 3% of global AI tools supporting Arabic, Nanovate positions itself as part of a new wave of companies driving inclusion and localization in AI.

What’s next? Nanovate is preparing several product launches, including Niva 2.0, which will feature deeper CRM integration and analytics, Nanovate Dashboard 2.0 with real-time workflow tracking, and voice cloning tools for creating branded AI voices.

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