Aramco and NESR sign $200M lithium pilot, Autobia raises $12M

The biggest number this week came from energy, but the pattern I kept noticing was in how Saudi companies buy things.

Aramco and NESR on lithium

On October 8, NESR's environmental unit signed an agreement with Aramco for a lithium demonstration project in Saudi Arabia. It runs up to five years with a contract value of roughly $200 million, and it uses NESR's LiThara platform to pull lithium from brine. The target is about 2,000 tonnes a year of battery-grade lithium carbonate, with production planned from late 2027.

The $200 million is a ceiling, not a payment schedule, and a demonstration plant is a long way from a commercial one. Still, direct lithium extraction from brine fits the Kingdom's oilfield know-how well, and Aramco has been testing lithium extraction with partners since 2024. An oilfield-services firm winning the contract is a useful data point for any services company thinking about where its skills transfer.

Neopay and Noon Payments

Neopay, a Dubai merchant acquirer, is buying 65% of Noon Payments, the gateway attached to the Noon marketplace. The price is undisclosed and regulatory and antitrust approval is pending. Neopay's previous majority owners, Arcapita and Dgpays, bought 65% from Mashreq in January 2025 for $385 million. The logic here is simple: in-store terminals plus online checkout, for merchants selling in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt.

Procurement, three times

Autobia closed a $12 million Series A led by Artal Capital, with Aljazira Capital and Wa'ed Ventures. It runs a marketplace linking auto parts retailers and wholesalers to verified suppliers and will expand logistics and inventory financing. COFE Tech, a Saudi-headquartered AI procurement platform with over 1,000 business clients, disclosed backing from Phoenix Venture Partners and KSH Investments. Project Suppliers raised $1 million from unnamed angels to build financing tools for MEP suppliers.

Founders should notice the common move. The marketplace gets the customer, but the financing is where the margin sits. A Chicago investor should notice that these are small tickets into businesses that sit on transaction data.

Echelon

Echelon, which helps Saudi enterprises and government entities choose and localise AI from global providers, raised from East40, RAED Ventures and Avra, with Ben Horowitz in the list. No amount was given.

What I'd watch next

Whether Neopay gets its approvals and keeps the Noon Payments team. And the September and third-quarter funding tallies, which should show how much of this year's total sits in the three or four giant rounds from mid-September.