When you walk into your favorite café or restaurant, you probably don’t think about the system running it all — inventory, staff schedules, sales tracking, and even which dish to feature next week.
But that invisible layer is where one Saudi startup, TabSense, is quietly leading a revolution.
The Big News
TabSense just announced a $5 million funding round led by Jasoor Ventures, a sign of growing investor appetite for deep-tech startups coming out of Saudi Arabia.
Founded in 2024 by Mohammad Jaber, Mohammad Khleifat, Mohamad Ababatain, and Shadi Daboor, TabSense is creating what it calls an “AI Agentic Point-of-Sale (PoS)” — a system designed to go far beyond billing and receipts.
“We built TabSense to give restaurant operators more than just a PoS — we built an intelligent teammate,”
— Mohammad Jaber, Co-founder of TabSense
What Makes It Different
Most restaurant PoS systems simply record what’s sold.
TabSense’s AI-powered platform thinks like a manager.
It embeds autonomous AI agents — digital employees that help restaurants:
- Predict which menu items will perform best
- Automate inventory and workforce management
- Analyze customer behavior to personalize offers
- Manage multi-branch operations with real-time insights
In essence, TabSense is not just recording transactions — it’s making them smarter.
The platform already powers over 1,000 restaurants across Saudi Arabia and Jordan, with integrations into major telecom players like STC and Zain, and partnerships with local financial institutions.
How the Funding Will Be Used
The $5 million raised will accelerate TabSense’s next stage of growth. Here’s how:
- Product development: Enhancing its proprietary AI engine
- Regional expansion: Entering the UAE, Egypt, and Kuwait markets
- Talent growth: Hiring engineers and AI researchers
- Advanced analytics: Improving predictive accuracy and decision intelligence
It’s a strategic move to position TabSense as the AI backbone of MENA’s restaurant ecosystem.
Why This Matters
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is fueling a shift toward innovation, automation, and private-sector competitiveness.
TabSense fits perfectly into this landscape. It’s not just helping restaurants modernize — it’s helping the region build its own digital infrastructure for growth.
The startup’s success signals that MENA’s tech story is evolving — from consumer-facing apps to deep, operational AI platforms that drive real productivity.
Challenges Ahead
Of course, building the “brain” of a restaurant chain isn’t simple.
TabSense will need to:
- Educate operators on the value of AI-driven systems
- Adapt its tech to different franchise models across MENA
- Compete with established global PoS players
- Prove clear ROI and measurable efficiency gains
But given the team’s traction and backing from Jasoor Ventures, the company seems ready for that challenge.
The Bigger Picture
The real story isn’t just about one startup raising money. It’s about how AI is becoming infrastructure — not just an add-on.
In the next few years, restaurant owners might not think of AI as “technology.”
They’ll think of it as a key member of their management team — making better decisions, faster.
That’s exactly what TabSense is building.
“The next wave of tech innovation in MENA won’t just serve consumers — it’ll rebuild how businesses operate, scale, and compete.”
Final Thoughts
With Jasoor Ventures’ support, TabSense is at the forefront of a new kind of hospitality tech — one where software doesn’t just follow instructions, it takes initiative.
From Riyadh to Cairo, restaurant owners are about to get a new partner in growth: an AI that manages the business like a seasoned operator.
It’s an exciting signal for the region — proof that MENA’s startup ecosystem isn’t just catching up.
It’s creating its own category of intelligence-driven innovation.
Editor’s Note — From the Startups MENA Team
At Startups MENA, we focus on the transformative narratives shaping the region’s tech and financial journeys. The $5 million raise by TabSense is far more than a headline — it reflects how hospitality operations across the Gulf are being reimagined for the AI age.
By combining autonomous AI agents with franchise-grade operational intelligence, TabSense is setting the standard for what enterprise innovation in the region can look like.
As venture capital deepens across the Middle East and North Africa, TabSense’s story reminds us: the next generation of MENA startups won’t just build apps — they’ll build intelligent systems that run entire industries.
— The Startups MENA Editorial Team
