Saudi event-tech startup INVE has raised $300,000 in Pre-Seed funding from Outliers Venture Capital, a round that supports its shift from personal celebrations to business event management. The Riyadh-based company will use the capital to expand its business platform and grow its consumer product beyond weddings to other occasions. The announcement highlights the startup's plans to scale across Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf Cooperation Council.
From Wedding Invitations to Business Events
Founded in 2024 by Abdulrahman Alabdulkarim, INVE began as a practical solution to simplify invitations and RSVP management for the founder's sister's wedding. The consumer product has since supported 250 events across more than 60 cities and towns in Saudi Arabia and the GCC. It has delivered more than 35,000 invitations and recorded an 88% RSVP response rate, indicating strong engagement among individual hosts.
The startup launched its business platform in August 2026 to address the needs of companies that use events to engage clients, partners, and other stakeholders. The platform allows hosts to manage guest information, personalize invitations, and handle registrations through branded pages and digital entry passes. It also stores guest preferences and attendance records, helping organizations avoid rebuilding guest data for every new event.
A Unified Approach to Guest Data
INVE positions itself at the intersection of event operations and customer relationship management, where repeat engagement often creates the most value. The platform builds individual guest profiles that include details such as dietary preferences and attendance history, enabling organizers to reuse this information over time. This approach is designed for technology companies, venture capital firms, financial services providers, and agencies that manage events on behalf of clients.
The business platform also enables companies to communicate with invitees through their own email addresses and WhatsApp numbers while maintaining brand identity across registration pages, RSVP pages, and digital entry passes. This integration reduces the need for separate tools and spreadsheets that often fragment guest data. For businesses, it means each event can build on previous interactions rather than starting from scratch.
Investor Confidence and Growth Plans
Outliers Venture Capital's involvement extends beyond the funding round. The firm served as INVE's first paid business design partner and used the platform to manage invitations and guest communications under its own brand, including for its upcoming Builder Summit. Sarah Al Saleh, General Partner at Outliers VC, said this hands-on experience gave the firm confidence in the product and the founder's ability to execute.
The fresh capital will support investments in the team, brand, and customer acquisition channels. INVE's immediate focus remains on Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC, where it aims to expand both its consumer offering and corporate client base. In the longer term, the company plans to grow its business customer presence into North Africa, other African markets, and Europe.
Leadership Vision
Abdulrahman Alabdulkarim, Founder and CEO of INVE, said the company is building a platform that brings the entire hosting experience together, making it easier to host at any scale while strengthening the relationships that matter. He added that the new funding would support broader adoption among individuals and businesses across the region. INVE's consumer product is available internationally, while customer acquisition is currently concentrated in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region.
INVE's evolution from wedding invitations to business event management reflects a wider opportunity in the Gulf's event-tech market, where practical consumer tools can find enterprise applications. The startup's combination of consumer traction, a live business platform, and an investor that has already tested the product provides a solid foundation for growth. Its success will depend on attracting recurring business customers and extending its platform across multiple types of events and regions.