Google, Alpha, and BioNTech back Tunisian enterprise AI company, InstaDeep with $100m

Enterprise AI startup, InstaDeep, with offices in Tunis and London, has acquired $100 million in Series B funding from Alpha Intelligence Capital and CDIB. The company uses AI to develop decision-making systems for tackling real-world challenges.

Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine-maker BioNTech, Chimera Abu Dhabi, Deutsche Bahn Digital Ventures, Google, G42, and Synergie all participated in the funding round.

The African startup was launched in 2014 with two founders, Karim Beguir and Zohra Slim. Having offices in Paris, Tunis, Dubai, and Cape Town, InstaDeep uses advanced machine learning techniques to bring artificial intelligence (AI) to enterprise applications.

How InstaDeep’s AI and machine learning tackle problems

Large shipping companies are always looking for better ways of transporting containers, while railway stations with over 30,000 kilometres of track are always looking for better solutions for automating train schedules for 10,000 trains. Printed circuit boards, for example, can be used to create improved therapies and route components. These issues, though in distinct sectors, are related. With the use of reinforcement learning, a type of machine learning, InstaDeep develops optimisation techniques and then executes on them all at once. As explained in a press release, the company seems to be developing (alongside Deutsche Bahn) a product that will automate train scheduling. 

In the last two years, InstaDeep and BioNTech have created a multi-year strategic partnership to launch a collaborative AI innovation centre. AI and machine learning (ML) were key components of the lab’s mission, which was to create novel immunotherapies. In late November, it built an early warning system (EWS) for high-risk SARS-CoV-2 subtypes. It found more than 90% of WHO-designated variants two months ahead of time, and Omicron three days before the WHO named it a variant of concern.

The Tunisian startup has also worked on AI initiatives and released joint research with DeepMind and Google Research to establish an early detection system for desert locust infestations in Africa. InstaDeep’s newest round of funding is backed by all three of these organizations, which is a common thread in these alliances.

As a company, InstaDeep has become a global leader in using AI to solve problems that have a lot of money at stake. The cost of constructing a single kilometre of railway can run into the hundreds of millions (in dollars). So, delivering an intelligent technology that can improve rail traffic and better handle restrictions is extremely marketable.

The additional capital will help the enterprise AI company expedite product launches in biotech, logistics, transportation, and electronics manufacturing. Expanding into the US and hiring additional talent are included in its use of finances strategy.

InstaDeep now has 170 employees. There are about 130 people working on AI research and development across the company’s three African offices: South Africa, Nigeria, and Tunisia.