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Rime, the Riyadh-based physical AI startup, has closed a Seed round exceeding $2 million led by SEEDRA Ventures, with participation from Athlah Investment, Unity Invest Partners and a group of angel investors. SEEDRA also led the company's pre-Seed.
The platform connects more than 6,000 cameras to AI agents across 2,000 operational sites for retail and service chains in the GCC. Rather than streaming footage to remote data centres for processing, Rime runs data processing and decision-making on-site at the moment an event occurs, using edge computing and AIoT to link agents directly to cameras and sensors already installed.
Combining visual inputs with sensor readings lets the system trigger immediate on-premise responses, which the company pitches at operational efficiency, compliance enforcement and reducing unaccounted losses.
"We are moving into a new era of Physical AI, where systems move beyond screens to interact and make decisions directly within operational environments," said co-founder Mohammed Al Marshadi, arguing that on-site processing is the foundational requirement for field-level AI agents because of the processing speed and real-time response it allows.
Rime handles infrastructure deployment and management end to end, positioning itself for clients without the technical capacity to run such systems themselves.
Founded in 2024 by Al Marshadi and Aarif Al Otaibi, Rime will use the capital to consolidate its Saudi footprint and build out platform capabilities, framing the work against the Kingdom's National Strategy for Data and AI and Vision 2030.
"Enterprises across our region possess vast existing infrastructure of cameras and sensors that historically served passive recording roles," said Abdullah Al Munif, co-founder of SEEDRA Ventures. "Transforming these legacy assets into an active operational intelligence layer represents one of the largest market opportunities today."
Al Munif added that as AI models become commoditised, capability alone is no longer the differentiator, with the value shifting to delivering decisions into frontline environments in real time.
SEEDRA, founded in 2019 and licensed by the CMA operates a venture studio model alongside its fund and has made more than 50 investments, with a portfolio including Tamara, Lendo, Zid, Lucidya and Noon Academy.
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