Saudi-based UnitX, an artificial intelligence (AI) and supercomputing startup spin-out company from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), has secured $2 million of co-investment from the KAUST Innovation Fund and Saudi Aramco’s Wa’ed Ventures fund.

UnitX plans to use the funding  to democratise supercomputing and help enterprises of all sizes leverage technologies such as high-performance data analytics to make data-driven decisions, reduce IT spending, innovate and become globally competitive.

Launched in 2019, UnitX partners with institutions that have spare supercomputing capacity and by making it available in an easy-to-use cloud model to its clients in traditionally underserved industry verticals, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and beyond.

“UnitX is bridging a new frontier in advancing big compute power and making it more accessible to sectors that have previously been unable to access the benefits of supercomputing. At KAUST, we are actively investing in startups and technology that are shaping industry 4.0 and UnitX is deep tech startup at the forefront of this revolution,” said Tamer Osman, head of the KAUST Innovation Fund.

“UnitX is excited to have Aramco’s Wa’ed Ventures and the KAUST Innovation Fund onboard as investors. With their support we will be able to generate value both locally in Saudi Arabia, expand globally and innovate further,” said Kiran Narayanan, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) at UnitX.  “We are breaking the barriers of skill and access to supercomputers – which are traditionally expensive beyond the reach of most companies – and partnering with institutions that have unused supercomputing power. We then make this spare capacity available to the companies on our platform in a manner that is easy to use.”