INVE, a Riyadh-based company that runs an online platform for event invitations and guest management, has raised $300,000 in pre-seed funding from Outliers VC. The company announced the round on 22 October 2026 in a press release published by Zawya, and Wamda reported it the same day.
Outliers VC, an investment firm run by former operators, was the only investor named. Before it invested, it had been INVE's first paying customer for the business version of the platform, working with the startup as a design partner.
INVE did not disclose a valuation.
“Our vision is for INVE to become the infrastructure behind how people and businesses host across the Gulf. With Outliers behind us, we're bringing that vision to more hosts across the region.”Abdulrahman Alabdulkarim, Founder and CEO, INVE
What INVE does
Founder and chief executive Abdulrahman Alabdulkarim, who is 23, built the first version of INVE in 2024 for his sister's wedding, according to the release. The consumer product handles personalised invitations, RSVP tracking, branded registration pages and digital entry passes.
A version for businesses launched in August 2026. It is aimed at technology companies, venture firms, financial services businesses and agencies that host events for clients. Hosts can send invitations from their own email addresses and company WhatsApp numbers, and each guest has a profile that updates as they interact, holding details such as dietary needs, interests and past attendance.
The company said its platform has been used for 250 events, with customers in more than 60 cities and towns in Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf. It has sent more than 35,000 invitations, and 88% of them received an RSVP response, according to the release. Wamda reported the same figures as relating to the consumer platform.
Who invested
Sarah AlSaleh, a general partner at Outliers VC, said working with INVE as a design partner had given the firm confidence in the product and in Alabdulkarim's ability to deliver. She described him as combining technical depth with a feel for hospitality in the region.
Alabdulkarim previously worked on backend and infrastructure systems at Lean Technologies, according to the release. He studied at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, where he became the second person to receive the university's President's Medal for Entrepreneurship, awarded for his work on INVE.
In the release he said guest information was often spread across spreadsheets, messages and separate tools, and that INVE aimed to bring the whole hosting process into one place.
What the money is for
INVE said it would use the money to bring its business platform to more companies and to take the consumer product, so far tested mainly on weddings, to other kinds of occasions. It also plans to spend on its team, its brand and sales channels for both products.
The self-service product can be used from outside the region, but the company said its near-term customer acquisition would focus on Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states. Over the longer term it hopes to sign business customers in North Africa, elsewhere in Africa and in Europe.
This is the first outside funding INVE has reported; neither source mentioned any earlier round.