Omani startup charts regional growth with AI-powered food supply platform

Observer

a day ago

MUSCAT: Oman's food and beverage (F&B) sector is witnessing the rise of a new player that blends technology with sustainability. ZabonEx, the Muscat-based startup using predictive analytics to help businesses 'sell more and waste less,' has set its sights on becoming a regional force.
In an exclusive interview with the Observer, Co-founder Hatim Moosa al Abri said the company is now moving swiftly to capitalise on its recent $100,000 pre-seed funding round led by Future Fund Oman and ITHCA Group. The investment, secured last month, represents not just a financial boost but also validation of the company's vision to address one of the region's pressing challenges—food waste.
'We'll use this investment to speed up—without losing discipline,' Hatim explained. 'On the technology side, we're improving prediction accuracy, adding plug-and-play integrations with common POS and ERP systems, and automating model updates so customers don't need extra IT work. On market reach, we're turning successful pilots in Oman into repeatable playbooks and scaling them across the GCC.'
SMARTER FORECASTING DOR SMARTER BUSINESS
Founded by Hatim alongside co-founder Almuhannad al Balushi, ZabonEx offers a SaaS platform designed for F&B producers, distributors, and retailers. The system connects to a customer's sales and stock data, predicts demand at the product and outlet level, and provides clear order recommendations.
The approach is distinctive. While many forecasting tools focus on broad trends, ZabonEx drills down to fine-grained, daily insights, taking into account product shelf life, minimum delivery volumes, and logistics routes. Customers interact with a simple dashboard, can tweak assumptions, and push results back into their own systems seamlessly.
'Where we stand out is in our ability to deliver daily, actionable recommendations with very fast setup,' Hatim noted. 'We also offer human-in-the-loop controls and an optional computer-vision add-on that improves on-shelf and expiry data. It's about making technology practical, not complicated.'
SCALING BEYOND OMAN
Having proven its concept in Oman, ZabonEx is preparing to scale regionally, starting with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, followed by Qatar and Bahrain. These markets, Hatim explained, share a similar retail structure and an urgent focus on food security.
'The opportunities are significant, especially with multi-brand distributors and national agendas to cut food waste,' he said. 'The challenges are around change management, data differences, and longer sales cycles. We address these through short pilots that prove impact quickly, bilingual products in Arabic and English, and strong local partnerships.'
This expansion strategy mirrors the startup's emphasis on building secure, cloud-aligned solutions. With GCC countries pushing for data sovereignty, ZabonEx is ensuring its platform complies with local data residency requirements, positioning itself as a trusted partner in a regulated landscape.
TECHNOLOGY MEETS SUSTAINABILITY
At its heart, ZabonEx is not just about operational efficiency but also about environmental and social impact. Food waste is a global problem, with the UN estimating that one-third of all food produced is lost or wasted. In the GCC, where food imports dominate, waste reduction is directly tied to national food security.
By helping businesses order with more precision, ZabonEx contributes to reducing expiries, minimising returns, and ensuring better shelf availability. These small, everyday decisions accumulate into lasting impact across the supply chain.
'This directly supports Oman Vision 2040 and regional priorities on food security and sustainable consumption,' Hatim said. 'At ZabonEx, success means less waste and more sales. This funding helps us deliver that faster across the region, while we build strong data systems so the benefits keep growing over time.'
BUILDING THE INTELLIGENCE BACKBONE OF F&B
With its strong investor backing, growing team, and scalable product, ZabonEx is positioning itself as what Hatim calls the 'intelligence backbone' of the food supply chain in the Middle East.
The company's next chapter is clear: deepen its roots in Oman, expand into neighbouring markets, and continue refining its predictive engine to make smarter business decisions easier for F&B companies of all sizes.
As Oman sharpens its focus on entrepreneurship and digital innovation under Vision 2040, Omani startups like ZabonEx are proving that local ideas can tackle global problems—while creating growth opportunities across the region.