Presight Takes a Stake in South Korean Smart City AI Company Dtonic

Pramotedham called Dtonic "one key company that we have taken a position in" and described it as "a South Korean smart city company that is at the pre-IPO stage," according to a transcript of the call. Presight did not say how much it paid, what share it holds or what valuation the deal implied.

The investment is part of Presight's effort to earn more of its revenue outside the UAE. On the call, chief financial officer Ram said the company's medium-term goal is for international markets to provide about half of group revenue. In the third quarter, almost 90% of revenue came from the UAE. Presight reported quarterly revenue of AED 749.2 million, up 14.7%, and a 31% rise in profit after tax.

Dtonic builds an AI operating system based on ontology, autonomous AI and explainable AI. According to Presight, the system is used in smart cities, industry, the public sector and military settings. The two companies already had ties before the investment. Dtonic was chosen for the second cohort of Presight's accelerator programme, which sits within its FutureSight platform for finding and developing technology companies. On 21 September, during the Abu Dhabi Investment Forum in Seoul, the two companies signed a strategic agreement to explore cooperation on smart cities and AI-driven data infrastructure, including possible use of Dtonic's AI operating system in Presight's current and future projects.

At the time, Dtonic chief executive Yong Joo Jun called the agreement "an important next step in our relationship with Presight." On the same day, Presight signed a separate agreement with the Gyeonggido Business & Science Accelerator, a public body that supports small and medium-sized companies in South Korea.

On the earnings call, Pramotedham said that after those meetings, "the opportunities for us to sell into South Korea with Korean partners has now become a reality." He said Presight had brought four Korean companies into its programmes, working in cybersecurity, urban management, GPU optimisation and community service analytics.

South Korea is one of several markets Presight is pursuing. Pramotedham cited a pipeline of about $500 million in Kazakhstan, roughly $200 million of further opportunities across Central Asia, and a memorandum of understanding with Greece's Ministry of Digital Governance on AI-powered urban analytics. He also said the Shorooq fund Presight backs has now invested in 16 companies, four of them in the third quarter, including a stake in Maven Robotics' $100 million financing round.

Presight has the money for more deals. Management said the company has approximately AED 2 billion in cash and cash equivalents and no debt. Pramotedham said Presight is looking at acquisitions that would extend its urban management and government business, and that its energy unit AIQ is considering acquisitions in physical robotics and oil and gas analytics. Ram said the company treats acquisitions as potential upside rather than part of its base-case outlook.

Presight did not say when Dtonic might list or on which exchange.