Sinai.ai announced the close of a $1.45 million pre-seed funding round to develop its interactive, AI-native reading platform and expand partnerships across the publishing ecosystem. The round was led by KAUST Innovation Ventures and DisrupTech Ventures, with participation from Maza Ventures and YOUXEL Ventures, along with a group of angel investors.
Sinai.ai is building a new category of digital reading through its aiBook format, a patent-backed experience that transforms traditional books into interactive, AI-powered environments. The platform allows readers to engage with content in real time, generate study materials, switch between reading and listening, and access books in multiple languages.
The company is targeting innovation in the global book market, valued at approximately $150 billion, where formats have remained largely unchanged for decades. By combining licensed full-text content with AI capabilities, Sinai.ai aims to modernize how books are consumed while working within the existing publishing ecosystem.
The platform is launching with thousands of titles and has already secured partnerships with multiple publishers, positioning it to scale adoption across both consumer and educational use cases.
The founding team includes Ahmed Kamel, Mohamed Elshamy, Mohamed Elshenawy, Hana Malhas, and Abdullah Moatasem, bringing experience across technology, AI research, consulting, and creative industries.
The new capital will be used to invest in proprietary technology, expand AI infrastructure, drive user acquisition, and support licensing agreements with publishers as the company scales its platform.
KEY QUOTES
“We strongly believe that AI will fundamentally reshape a wide range of industries, and the book industry is long overdue for meaningful innovation. For over two decades, the core format of books has remained largely unchanged. What the Sinai.ai team is building introduces a truly new paradigm — transforming books into interactive, intelligent experiences where readers can engage, learn, and explore in entirely new ways. We are particularly excited about the team and their ability to execute on a vision that sits at the intersection of content, technology, and user experience. We are always proud to back Egyptian founders who are building category-defining companies and pushing the boundaries of innovation beyond local markets.”
Mohamed El Sayed Okasha, DisrupTech Ventures
“What drew me to Sinai.ai is that they’re approaching a huge, old industry with respect and clarity. Publishing has been around for centuries, and for good reason, but much of how it operates hasn’t evolved at the pace of technology. Instead of trying to break it, Sinai.ai is working alongside it, using AI to modernize how books are created, produced, and distributed. That’s a harder path. It requires understanding the incentives of everyone involved and building something that fits into a real ecosystem, not just replacing it. But it’s also the more enduring one. The companies that last are often the ones that reshape industries from within, and Sinai.ai feels like it’s doing exactly that.”
Tambi Jalouqa, Maza Ventures
