The GCC and London-based AI firm 1001 has secured $30 million in Series A funding led by Lux Capital. The investment will accelerate the development of sovereign AI systems tailored for critical infrastructure in the Middle East, such as aviation, energy, and logistics, enabling regional operators to manage assets with locally governed technology.
The round backs a clear conviction: the Middle East is no longer just a customer for technology built elsewhere, but where applied AI is proven in the real world. The bigger bet behind it is that sovereignty in the next decade will depend on whether countries can build, operate and govern their own AI in the sectors that matter most, not just buy it from abroad.
“The GCC runs some of the world’s most important infrastructure, managing a significant share of global oil flows, container traffic and international aviation,” said Bilal Abu-Ghazaleh, founder and CEO of 1001. “Business leaders here don’t just want pilots. They want sovereign systems that deliver measurable results and make thousands of real-time decisions they can trust. This is the work we’ve set out to do, and this round lets us go deeper and bring the best local and global talent to it.”
Founded in 2025 by Abu-Ghazaleh, 1001 sits above the systems an operator already runs, and builds a live working model of the operation itself: every asset, process, dependency and constraint. Where operators today make thousands of high-stakes decisions under pressure, with no unified or intelligent system to make them consistently and at scale, 1001 does more than show what is happening. It identifies what is about to go wrong and what to do about it, recommending or executing the best action earlier, faster and more intelligently than was ever possible before. The systems are built, owned and governed locally, so clients retain full control of infrastructure they cannot afford to have switched off.
1001’s systems apply to any high-value operational problem where better data and intelligence can improve decisions, across the full range of physical and critical infrastructure, including aviation, ports and logistics, energy, industrials and manufacturing. McKinsey estimates broader AI adoption could add up to $150 billion to GCC economies, about 9% of combined GDP, with critical infrastructure among the highest-value opportunities.
“Bilal and the 1001 team are exactly the kind of founders we take pride in backing: mission-driven, technically world-class, and building in one of the most consequential environments anywhere. They are proving that frontier AI for critical infrastructure can be built, owned and governed locally, rather than imported from abroad. We are especially proud to lead this round and to partner with 1001 as it helps the GCC build not just AI, but the capability to run its most important systems,” said Deena Shakir, Partner at Lux Capital.
“GCC economies are investing at unprecedented scale in data, compute and infrastructure, and the focus now is on building local capability to operate these assets with trusted AI,” said a spokesperson from Sanabil Investments. “We believe 1001 is well positioned to become a key sovereign AI partner for institutions across all critical infrastructure”.
The new capital will scale 1001’s team, especially engineering, and build out its commercial and go-to-market presence across key GCC markets. The company already draws top technical talent from leading global institutions including Yale, Stanford and Carnegie Mellon.
1001 has previously been backed by prominent angel investors including Amjad Masad (Replit), Amira Sajwani (DAMAC), Khalid Bin Bader Al Saud (RAED Ventures), and Hisham Al-Falih (Lean Technologies).
