Riyadh-based AI startup Sawt has secured $1 million (SAR 3.75 million) in a pre-seed funding round led by STV and T2, as it sets out to revolutionize customer service across the GCC using advanced Arabic-native voice AI. The startup replaces traditional call centers with AI-powered voice agents capable of handling bookings, support, and sales calls with natural, human-like interaction—available 24/7 without interruption.
With this funding, Sawt aims to scale its technical infrastructure, grow its engineering and product teams, and accelerate the development of proprietary Arabic voice models. These models are being built from the ground up in Saudi Arabia to ensure high accuracy, cultural relevance, and enterprise-grade privacy. The company is positioning itself to handle millions of customer interactions seamlessly, addressing major inefficiencies in legacy call center systems such as long wait times, repetitive inquiries, and high operational costs.
As Saudi Arabia continues to undergo an AI-driven transformation—with over 66 of Vision 2030’s 96 strategic goals tied to data and AI—Sawt is emerging as a key local player. “We’re proud to contribute to this movement by building Arabic voice technology in the Kingdom,” said Abdulmalik Al-Saeed, Co-founder and CEO of Sawt. With the GCC call center automation market estimated at $800M to $1.2B, investors see strong potential in Sawt’s AI-first approach. “Sawt exemplifies a new wave of Saudi AI-native ventures,” added Ahmad Al Naimi, General Partner at STV, highlighting the startup’s momentum and deep tech focus.