The South Korean artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor startup Rebellion has secured an investment of approximately $15 million from the Middle East. In line with the global trend of Sovereign AI, the company aims to expand AI chip sales in the region.
Rebellion announced on July 23 that it received this investment from Wa’ed Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company, Aramco. Rebellion stated, “This investment from Aramco marks a significant achievement as it is the first of its kind for a South Korean startup and semiconductor firm.”
Wa’ed Ventures, known for identifying promising global startups, providing financial support, forging cooperative relationships, and connecting them with international networks, has invested in Rebellion. This investment is expected to help Rebellion establish a presence in the local AI market in the Middle East and expand its business operations.
With the successful fundraising, Rebellion plans to accelerate its entry into Saudi Arabia and expedite ongoing business discussions with Aramco.
The Saudi government has been actively preparing to build its own AI infrastructure and services to support the concept of Sovereign AI, which aims to ensure national and regional AI and data sovereignty. Rebellion intends to capitalize on this by setting up a local subsidiary in Saudi Arabia and targeting the Middle Eastern AI market.
Park Sung Hyun, CEO of Rebellion, commented, “As Saudi Arabia aggressively invests in securing AI competitiveness and builds partnerships, we expect Aramco’s investment to be a crucial turning point for expanding our market presence. We aim to continue the export success stories our predecessor companies in the Middle East achieved with our AI and semiconductor technology.”
Fahad Alidi, CEO of Wa’ed Ventures, said, “We are very pleased to support Rebellion’s journey in advancing Saudi Arabia’s AI chip technology. The semiconductor industry is one of the key technology visions that Saudi Arabia is strategically focusing on, and this investment demonstrates the country’s commitment to fostering innovation in the semiconductor sector.”
semiconductor startup Rebellion has secured an investment of approximately $15 million from the Middle East.){kind=link}