UAE Startup Cobi Raises $1 Million to Expand AI Platform

UAE-based customer intelligence startup Cobi has raised $1 million in a pre-seed funding round to accelerate its regional and international expansion while advancing its AI-powered customer intelligence platform.

The round was led by Lunara Partners, with participation from Plug and Play, Annex Investments and Spring. Founded in 2024 by Darren Edmund and Botlhale Mosoane, Cobi develops AI technology that analyses behavioural, transactional, product and engagement data to help businesses better understand their customers and recommend the next best course of action.

The company says its platform addresses a common challenge facing enterprises, where customer information is spread across multiple systems that often generate conflicting signals, leaving teams to make critical decisions manually.

"Our platform builds an evolving understanding of a company's customers and the touchpoints shaping their experience, then gives teams direction on how to engage, serve and create value for different customer groups," said Darren Edmund, Co-Founder and CEO of Cobi.

The new funding will be used to expand enterprise deployments across the Middle East and international markets, while strengthening the platform's recommendation and decision-making capabilities. Cobi's technology is already used by organisations including Mastercard, Emirates Flight Catering, Presight AI and Lari Exchange.

The startup has also signed a five-year agreement with eNovate, a subsidiary of eFinance Investment Group, to integrate its customer intelligence infrastructure across a digital payments ecosystem.