• Saudi Arabia-based AI-powered networking platform Halo AI closed a $6 million Seed funding round, led by Raed Ventures and Shorooq, along with other investors.
• Founded in 2024 by Vito Strokov, Rami Saad, and Alex Gadalin, Halo uses AI to connect brands with nano- and micro-influencers who have audience relationships in specific niches.
• The investment will fuel Halo AI's global expansion beyond its launch in Saudi Arabia, with immediate plans for Dubai and Kuwait, followed by rapid scaling across MENA, Europe, and North America.

Press release:

Halo AI, the company transforming how brands and creators collaborate, today announced the closing of a $6 million seed funding round. Led by Raed Ventures and Shorooq, the round included strategic investors such as former C-level executives from Snapchat, leaders from Microsoft and Airbnb, senior executives from Amazon, and pioneering investors behind gaming industry unicorns.

The announcement, made as part of the 1 Billion Pitches competition during the 1 Billion Followers Summit, underscores Halo AI’s mission to enable efficient, scalable collaborations between brands and creators.

The investment will fuel Halo AI's global expansion beyond its successful launch in Saudi Arabia, with immediate plans for Dubai and Kuwait, followed by rapid scaling across MENA, Europe, and North America. Halo AI’s cutting-edge AI capabilities, developed by veterans from AWS, Meta, and Snapchat, have already secured partnerships with prominent brands such as Kitopi, ToYou, 1/2M, and Syarah.

The global creator economy reached $250 billion in 2024 and is projected to nearly double by 2027. Despite this growth, the industry faces critical inefficiencies in scaling brand-creator collaborations. Halo AI’s breakthrough AI technology has already achieved remarkable results within its first months of operations, positioning the company as a leader in the space.

With Halo AI, brands benefit from a 97% campaign completion rate, far exceeding the industry average of 65%, and can go live within just 48 hours. For creators, the platform guarantees payment within 72 hours, a first in the region.

"After decades of building ad products at Meta and Snapchat, we recognized that traditional approaches couldn't solve the fundamental inefficiencies in creator marketing," said Vito Strokov, Co-Founder and CEO of Halo AI. "Our agentic AI operates as an intelligent partner in the collaboration process, making autonomous decisions about creator-brand matches, optimizing campaign performance in real-time, and consistently delivering breakthrough results. Unlike traditional automation tools, our AI actively thinks, learns, and adapts to each brand's unique needs while understanding what drives creator success, resulting in an 85% reduction in manual work and performance metrics that far exceed industry standards."

Investor Support

“The creator economy represents one of the most dynamic and transformative opportunities of our time, but it has long struggled with inefficiencies in scaling meaningful brand-creator collaborations,” said Tina Daher, Principal at Shorooq. “Halo AI’s pioneering technology is a game-changer, bringing unmatched precision, scalability, and efficiency to this space. At Shorooq, we’re excited to support Halo AI’s vision to redefine how brands and creators connect, enabling them to unlock unprecedented value and impact across the region and globally.”

"The creator economy is booming, and brands are seeking authentic connections with their audiences," said Wael Nafee, General Partner at Raed Ventures. "Halo AI’s innovative AI-powered platform is transforming how creator-brand partnerships are formed and executed. We’re proud to lead their fundraising round and confident Halo AI will become a definitive platform in this rapidly growing market."

As the global creator economy is projected to reach $480 billion by 2027, with 84% of brand deals occurring in the small and medium creator segment, Halo AI is uniquely positioned to capture significant market share. Its AI-driven solutions enable scalable creator collaborations while improving quality and reducing costs, setting a new standard for the industry.