The Lucidya story: is Lucidya the next Saudi startup worth $1 billion?
The story of Lucidya and its founder Abdullah Asiri: from a first company that failed, to a second with no capital, to an Arabic AI founded in Jeddah in 2016 that understands more than 15 dialects, and a $30 million round led by Impact46.
Full film transcript
The first company Abdullah Asiri founded failed.
He started the second with no money and no employees.
He was born in Khamis Mushait, studied computer engineering in America, and came back to finish his master's at King Abdullah University.
In 2015, he noticed something strange: social media analytics tools understood English, but Arabic? Hardly at all.
Even though Arabs are among the most active tweeters.
So he and his team spent two years on research, and in 2016, Lucidya was founded in Jeddah.
The idea: AI that reads millions of comments and tells the company whether its customers are happy or upset.
The company says it understands more than 15 Arabic dialects.
In 2024, it became the first Saudi company to try a four-day work week.
In 2025, it raised $30 million, led by Impact46.
The company says it is the largest round for an AI company in the region.
Valuation undisclosed. But the company says one quarter's sales exceeded the sales of its first six years combined.
The lesson for you as a founder: your first failure may be practice for your next success.
Follow us at Saudi Founders.
Detailed figures and sources are in the Lucidya profile in the directory.
