Saudi event-technology startup INVE has raised $300,000 in pre-seed funding from Outliers Venture Capital as it expands its digital invitation and event-management platforms for consumers and businesses.
The funding will support the growth of INVE’s business platform, launched in August 2026, and its consumer product, which began as a tool for managing wedding invitations and has since expanded to other occasions.
“The guest experience doesn’t start when someone walks through the door, and it doesn’t end when they leave,” said Alabdulkarim, founder and chief executive officer of INVE. “From the first invitation to the next time you host, every interaction matters. But creating that experience often means juggling spreadsheets, messages and different tools, with valuable guest information fragmented across them.”
Founded by Abdulrahman Alabdulkarim, INVE provides personalised digital invitations, RSVP management, guest registration and digital entry passes. Its business platform also enables companies to maintain guest profiles containing information such as dietary preferences, interests and attendance history, helping them personalise communications and streamline event planning.
The platform allows hosts to send invitations from their own email addresses and company WhatsApp numbers, while RSVP pages, registration pages and digital passes carry their branding. The system is designed for businesses that use events to engage customers, partners and investors, including technology companies, venture capital firms, financial services providers and event agencies.
Alabdulkarim built INVE’s first version in 2024 to simplify invitation and RSVP management for his sister’s wedding. The product has since supported 250 events across more than 60 cities and towns in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), sending more than 35,000 invitations and recording an 88% RSVP response rate.
The company plans to invest in its team, brand and customer acquisition channels as it expands beyond weddings into birthdays, business dinners, summits and other gatherings.
INVE aims to bring the hosting process together in one platform, enabling individuals and businesses to manage events while building lasting relationships with their guests.
“Our vision is for INVE to become the infrastructure behind how people and businesses host across the Gulf,” Alabdulkarim said.
Outliers VC became INVE’s first paid business design partner before investing in the company. The venture capital firm has used the platform to manage invitations and guest communications under its own brand, including preparations for its forthcoming Builder Summit.
Sarah AlSaleh, general partner at Outliers VC, said working with INVE before investing gave the firm confidence in both the product and its founder.
“He combines deep technical expertise with an instinctive understanding of hospitality in the region, turning something deeply personal into technology that can scale without losing its human touch,” AlSaleh said.
She added that INVE’s approach to consumer and business engagement could make interactions more intentional and relationships more valuable.
INVE’s self-service platform is available internationally, although Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC remain its immediate customer acquisition priorities. The company has longer-term ambitions to expand its business customer base into North Africa, other African markets and Europe.
Alabdulkarim previously worked on backend and infrastructure systems at Lean Technologies. He graduated from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, where he received the institution’s President’s Medal for Entrepreneurship as its second recipient, in recognition of his work on INVE.