Declic, the Saudi social app backed by 500 Global and Misk, just closed a $1 million seed round to expand across the Gulf.
Declic, a Saudi-based social app that uses artificial intelligence to help people discover and organize real-world events, has raised $1 million in seed funding. The round was led by VidMatic Digital DMCC, a digital advertising solutions company.
The funding will support Declic's regional expansion as it prepares to enter Gulf markets, building on traction in Tunisia and Morocco where the app currently operates. The company is headquartered in Saudi Arabia but established its early user base in North Africa before scaling into higher-revenue markets.
Declic was founded in 2024 by Dr. Alice Othmani, Britesh Prajapati, and Paul K. The platform combines event discovery, ticketing, and community building into a single app, targeting people who want to meet others through shared activities rather than through traditional social media or dating apps. Users can create their own events, join existing ones, or browse activities organized by category, whether dining, sports, cultural outings, or professional meetups.
The company makes money through premium subscriptions and ticket sales. Event organizers, including professionals like tour guides, coaches, and tutors, can also use the platform to host paid events and reach potential clients.
The startup has built strong accelerator credentials, having gone through 500 Global, Misk Accelerator, Blossom x TikTok, and Launch. This combination of Silicon Valley methodology from 500 Global, Saudi market access through Misk, and consumer app expertise from the Blossom x TikTok program positions Declic well for its Gulf expansion. Misk in particular has been instrumental in helping international startups localize for the Saudi market, providing mentorship, corporate connections, and investor introductions.
Dr. Alice Othmani, the company's co-founder and CEO, brings an unusual background to a consumer social app. She holds a Ph.D. from Université Paris-Est and serves as an Associate Professor at Université Paris-Est Créteil, where she leads research at the Laboratoire Images, Signaux et Systèmes Intelligents (LISSI). Her academic work focuses on artificial intelligence applications in mental health, including systems that detect depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other conditions using audio, video, and EEG signals.
Her published research spans neural networks for emotion recognition, deep learning models for predicting depression relapse, and AI-driven diagnostic tools for conditions ranging from Alzheimer's disease to neonatal jaundice. She has collaborated with international research teams across France, Pakistan, Malaysia, and other countries, contributing to work that bridges signal processing, computer vision, and healthcare.
The connection between her academic expertise and Declic's mission is not immediately obvious, but her research on AI-driven recommendation systems directly informs how the app matches users with events and people. Declic has been hiring postdoctoral researchers to work on recommendation systems using large language models, drawing on Othmani's network and expertise to build AI that personalizes user experiences based on interests and behavior. The company claims to be targeting over one million users as it scales its AI capabilities.
The app is currently available in 38 cities worldwide, including Tunis, Marrakech, Cairo, Dubai, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and several European and Asian capitals. It supports English, French, and Arabic, positioning it for multilingual audiences across the MENA region and beyond.
The timing of this raise aligns with two converging trends. Saudi Arabia's entertainment and amusement market is expected to reach $4.78 billion by 2030, growing at over 12% annually. The event management market is projected to hit $3.67 billion by 2030. Government entities have channeled more than SAR 50 billion ($13.3 billion) into leisure infrastructure between 2024 and 2025, creating a surge in demand for platforms that help people discover and participate in activities. Riyadh Season alone attracted over 20 million visitors in its recent edition, demonstrating appetite for social experiences at scale.
At the same time, there's growing recognition that digital connectivity hasn't solved isolation. The World Health Organization reported in 2025 that one in six people globally are affected by loneliness, with teenagers experiencing the highest rates at nearly 21%. Loneliness is now linked to approximately 100 deaths every hour globally. Saudi Arabia's youthful demographic, where over 60% of the population is under 34, represents both a group vulnerable to social disconnection and one actively seeking alternatives to passive scrolling.
Declic's bet is that the solution to digital isolation isn't less technology but better technology, tools that push people toward real-world interaction rather than endless feeds. Whether the company can convert that thesis into sustainable growth will depend on execution, but the market conditions in the Gulf have rarely been more favorable for a platform built around getting people off their phones and into the same room.
