News

Procural Has Secured $1.2 Million In Seed Investment

The Bahrain-based startup is set to scale and expand the reach of its innovative platform.

Published

1 year ago

March 2, 2023

procural has secured $1.2 million in seed investment

Procural is an AI-driven procurement service that matches B2B vendors and buyers using advanced algorithms and data. The platform offers a cloud-based infrastructure, customizable workflows, automated purchase orders, and real-time budget tracking.

Now, the Bahrain-based startup has secured a seed investment of 1.2 million USD from Flagship Holding and BenchMatrix in a bid to accelerate product development and boost market growth.

“We found a gap in the market and have developed a secure, scalable solution that can be accessed from anywhere. By streamlining the purchasing process, businesses can save time and money while ensuring compliance with their procurement policies. This investment is a validation of our platform’s credibility and potential, and we’re excited to work with Flagship Holding and BenchMatrix to take Procural to the next level,” says Uzair Usman, the chief executive and co-founder of Procural.

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With an extensive suite of data-driven analytical features, Procural helps businesses to manage procurement, track spending, and identify opportunities for cost savings and improvements in process efficiency. The platform helps to digitize the entire procurement process flow, from request to fulfilment, increasing their clients’ sourcing outreach.

With the new funding, Procural will expand its team, improve the platform’s feature set, and accelerate growth, helping the company to become the go-to procurement solution for businesses looking to streamline their workflows.

News

Orchid Plans To Find Out What’s Wrong With You Before You’re Born

According to CEO Noor Siddiqui, the company isn’t on a mission to make designer babies, but aims to beat genetic odds and relieve suffering.

Published

4 hours ago

May 7, 2024

Nour Nasir

Orchid

Each day, around 400,000 babies are welcomed into the world. However, among those, a growing number will experience some kind of birth defect or inherited disease.

Noor Siddiqui, CEO of Orchid, hopes to “mitigate” unpleasant genetic surprises using genome sequencing technology to reveal a wealth of genetic information on which newborns will grow into healthy adults.

Until 2019, IVF specialists had access to under 1% of the human genome. The tests, called PGT-A and PGT-M, scanned a mere 1,000 data points in a genome comprising around 3 billion bases, offering a very limited dataset compared to the technology used by Orchid.

“Our chromosomes are like chapters in a book that make up the table of contents.” Explained Siddiqui. “[PGT-A and PGT-M tests] only examine the table of contents, whereas what Orchid is doing is like a spellcheck on the entire book.” Orchid’s genome sampling technology assesses “100 times the data, covering many more conditions.” In essence, an Orchid report covers three categories of common genetic issues: monogenic disorders, polygenic conditions, and de-novo mutations.

Also Read: Advancing MENA Health Through AI Vascular Age Analysis

Orchid’s technology raises many questions. Aside from the obvious ethical concerns, data privacy is the most obvious potential issue with the tests. Noor Siddiqui is keen to alleviate any concerns: “No data at Orchid is ever sold to any third parties. Parents are in complete control of their data. If they want to delete the data, we’re happy to delete it off of our servers. If they want to export the data, they can export the data. And if they want us to re-analyze the data, we can re-analyze the data”.

Compared to a lifetime of medical bills, gene therapy, and suffering, Orchid’s genome screening report has the potential to change the future lives of thousands of newborns worldwide.