• Wa’ed Ventures invested in US-based Resemble AI following its USD 13M funding round last December, led by global investors.
• Resemble AI, founded in 2019, specializes in AI voice generation and real-time multimodal deepfake detection for security.
• Investment aims to support Resemble AI’s Middle East expansion, enabling secure AI detection aligned with Saudi data sovereignty regulations.

Wa’ed Ventures

Aramco’s VC Fund, Wa’ed Ventures, invested in California-based security startup Resemble AI. This comes after the startup closed a USD 13 million round last December. This round was backed by investors including Google’s AI Future Fund, Sony Innovation Fund, Javelin, and Ubiquity.

Founded in 2019 by Zohaib Ahmed and Saqib Muhammad, Resemble AI is a security startup. It specializes in AI voice generation and real-time multimodal deepfake detection. Thus, it provides solutions to combat AI-generated fraud. 

Its technology seeks to enable organizations to detect synthetic audio and media manipulation across both cloud and on-premise environments. Moreover, it aims to support secure deployment in highly regulated industries.

The investment comes amid a sharp rise in AI generated fraud globally with an unprecedented surge in the Middle East. The startup reports that global deepfake-related scams caused more than USD 25 billion in losses in 2024. Meanwhile deepfake incidents are projected to cause USD 40 billion in damage globally by 2027.

Expansion into Middle East

Wa’ed Ventures’ investment seeks to support Resemble AI’s expansion into the Middle East. Thus, enabling organizations across Saudi to deploy secure, real-time AI detection technologies that align with regional data sovereignty and security requirements

“As the Kingdom strengthens AI governance, digital trust, and content authenticity regulations, solutions like Resemble AI’s deepfake detection and synthetic media safeguards directly support efforts to ensure secure, ethical AI adoption across public and private sectors.” said Anas Algahtani, CEO of Wa’ed Ventures.

Resemble AI’s platform enables both cloud and on-premise deployment. This allows government, defense, and regulated organizations to analyze voice and audio content without sending sensitive data to external servers. Thus, seeking to fulfill a critical requirement across the region.