Shorooq and Presight, a subsidiary of G42, announced their participation in a $100 million Series A funding round for Maven Robotics, a US startup developing autonomous industrial robots. The investment was made through the Presight–Shorooq AI and Seed Funds managed by Shorooq, alongside RoboStrategy, LocalGlobe, Vine Ventures, and XTX Ventures. The value of Shorooq’s or Presight’s individual contribution was not disclosed separately.
Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Maven focuses on applying robotics to logistics and manufacturing. The company began with mixed-case palletizing and container handling, two markets that Maven estimates are worth approximately $80 billion.
What will Maven do with the funding?
The company plans to use the capital to expand production of the third generation of its robots, with plans to build 250 units, while also developing the fourth generation. It is also preparing to expand its technologies from arranging different boxes on shipping pallets to a broader range of material-handling operations.
According to the statement, Maven’s robots operate for up to 16 hours a day at customer sites, with reliability exceeding 99 percent. The company says its approach has enabled it to win business against competitors whose robots have been available on the market for longer, although the source did not name those competitors or state the number of customers and actively operating sites.
Why does this investment matter?
The deal goes beyond financing a robotics startup; it reflects a direction among Emirati investors toward what the announcing party describes as “physical AI,” meaning systems that perform tasks in real-world operating environments rather than being limited to processing information. The investment gives Shorooq and Presight a presence in a US company working to automate measurable industrial operations, while Maven is betting on benefiting from the capital, expertise, computing capabilities, and institutional relationships associated with the G42 ecosystem.
Bilal Baloush, a partner at Shorooq, said that the next wave of AI would reshape the physical economy, while Thomas Bramoteham, CEO of Presight, explained that the value of AI emerges when it operates reliably in business environments. These statements reflect the positions of the parties participating in the investment and are not independent evidence of Maven’s performance or the future size of the market.
What remains unresolved?
The round’s success depends on Maven’s ability to move from operating robots at customer sites to producing and deploying a larger fleet at scale. The source provides no details about system pricing, operating economics, signed contracts, or the delivery timeline for third- and fourth-generation units. Therefore, the reliability indicators and the estimated $80 billion handling market remain points stated in the company’s announcement, not a substitute for independent operating data.
Maven was founded by Hamza Derbas, who serves as CEO and co-founder. He said the company is focused on addressing the industrial labor problem and expanding the scope of physical work, while viewing the region as a potential platform for reaching other markets.