Sinai.ai, an Egyptian startup, has secured $1.45 million in a pre-seed funding round to develop an AI-driven reading platform that converts traditional books into personalized, interactive learning experiences.
The funding round was led by KAUST Innovation Ventures and DisrupTech Ventures, with additional contributions from Maza Ventures, YOUXEL Ventures, and several angel investors. The capital will be allocated for product development, AI infrastructure, licensing, and user acquisition.
Founded in 2024 by Ahmed Kamel, Mohamed Elshamy, Mohamed Elshenawy, Hana Malhas, and Abdullah Moatasem, the company offers aiBook™, a patented format that transforms traditional text into an interactive reading experience.
Instead of reading a book passively, users can interact with the content in real-time. They can create custom study guides and quizzes, switch between reading and listening modes, access titles in multiple languages, and visualize concepts while exploring the material.
The global book market is valued at over $150 billion, but the fundamental reading format has remained largely unchanged for decades. Sinai.ai believes that a shift is on the horizon and that the startups most likely to lead this change will be those that collaborate with publishers rather than trying to push them aside.
What sets Sinai.ai’s model apart
Sinai.ai avoids copyright problems by licensing full-text books directly from publishers, unlike AI tools that scrape or summarize content without permission. This approach ensures legal sourcing and compliance with copyright laws.
The company has partnered with many publishers and will launch with thousands of titles. The platform helps publishers protect their rights, increase revenue, and reach new global markets.
“Instead of trying to break the industry, Sinai.ai is working alongside it, using AI to modernise how books are created, produced, and distributed,” said Tambi Jalouqa of Maza Ventures. “The companies that last are often the ones that reshape industries from within.”
Mohamed Okasha of DisrupTech Ventures echoed that view, pointing to the team’s ability to operate at the intersection of content, technology, and user experience. “For over two decades, the core format of books has remained largely unchanged,” he said.
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CEO Ahmed Kamel said the funding initiates a broader effort to reshape interactions with written knowledge, beginning with a platform that respects the publishing industry.
The $1.45 million will fund the next phase of that build, expanding the library, deepening the AI infrastructure, and growing the user base across global markets.
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