We’re proud to present a new interview as part of our Saudi Startup Success Stories series, created in partnership with StartupBlink and the National Technology Development Program (NTDP). This series highlights visionary founders and operators who are building globally competitive companies while advancing Saudi Arabia’s sustainability, ESG, and deep-tech ecosystem.

This conversation features Fawaz Abughazaleh, Co-Founder of Remedium, a Saudi enterprise software company transforming how organizations measure carbon emissions, manage ESG reporting, and track sustainability performance. Fawaz’s entrepreneurial journey began not in environmental science, but in studying international affairs in university, where global policy exposure laid the foundation for building digital infrastructure that enables measurable climate impact.

Saudi Arabia’s rapidly evolving innovation ecosystem played a defining role in Remedium’s growth. National programs such as NTDP’s NextEra initiative provided early momentum, technical acceleration, and hiring support in a highly complex and regulation-driven sector. Today, Remedium is helping Saudi companies automate data collection, processing, and reporting on a locally-built platform with global relevance.

Fawaz, can you explain what Remedium does in simple terms and how the idea first came to life?

Remedium is a business-to-business enterprise software platform. It’s web-based and integrates directly into a company’s internal systems to automatically calculate greenhouse gas emissions and other sustainability metrics.

We are industry-agnostic, we work with desalination plants, retailers, and more. Our platform connects to ERP systems, energy management systems, fleet management tools, and HR platforms to pull relevant operational data.

Beyond carbon accounting, we’ve expanded into full ESG reporting. On the environmental side, we track emissions, water usage, waste, biodiversity, and land use. On the social side, we measure diversity, workplace safety, and employee wellbeing indicators. On governance, we look at compliance topics such as anti-corruption frameworks.

Traditionally, this work is done by consultants who interview employees and manually compile spreadsheets. We built Remedium to automate that process, turning fragmented data into structured, auditable sustainability reports.

What inspired you and your co-founders to work in sustainability?

All three of us share a strong interest in environmental sustainability. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem degradation were topics we were already deeply.

My background is in international affairs. One of my co-founders, Yusuf, studied computer science in San Diego. Another co-founder, Dr. Mustafa, holds a PhD in renewable energy. During COVID lockdowns in 2020, we spent many hours discussing sustainability challenges and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 commitments.

We realized that for companies to meet national and global sustainability goals, they first need visibility into their own data. Businesses need to know where they stand today and how to track progress over time. That realization led to the creation of Remedium.

How did you validate the idea and move from concept to product?

We started with carbon accounting because it’s a core pillar of sustainability reporting and closely tied to international frameworks.

Unlike simple carbon calculators, our approach focuses on activity-based accounting. We measure real operational activities, fuel usage, electricity consumption, logistics movements, and convert them into emissions data.

From there, we began piloting with two Saudi companies in 2023. The pilots were successful and validated our product-market fit. After that, we raised a $1 million pre-seed round fully funded by Saudi angel investors. Since then, we’ve onboarded multiple paying clients and continue expanding our customer base.

Are sustainability insights generated automatically or through experts/consultants?

It’s a hybrid approach.

Initially, we included expert input, especially from sustainability specialists like Dr. Mustafa, to help structure qualitative reporting sections. However, our long-term goal is client self-sufficiency. Through programs like NextEra, we’ve expanded our AI capabilities. We now use artificial intelligence to accelerate report drafting, data analysis, and insight generation, not to replace experts, but to reduce manual workload and speed up reporting cycles.

Ultimately, we train client sustainability teams through workshops so they can generate insights internally using our platform.

A great example is one client who analyzed their diesel energy usage and independently decided to switch part of their operations to grid electricity. This single change helped them reduce Scope 3 emissions by 8.73% over two years, a significant improvement in our industry.

Why did you choose to build Remedium in Saudi Arabia instead of the US or Europe? There are three main reasons. First is belonging. As Saudis, we feel a strong responsibility to contribute to our country’s development and Vision 2030 goals.

Second is ecosystem readiness. Saudi Arabia offers one of the most efficient digital government infrastructures in the world. From company registration to payroll, compliance, and tax reporting, everything is streamlined and accessible online. That makes entrepreneurship much easier.

Third is market relevance. Sustainability is highly contextual. Energy mix, industrial structure, and regulatory priorities differ by country. Building locally allows us to design solutions tailored specifically for Saudi Arabia and the region.

We returned, gained professional experience locally, and then came together with a shared purpose. Saudi Arabia’s direction inspired the business idea, not the other way around.

How has NTDP and the NextEra program supported Remedium’s growth?

The impact has been transformative. NextEra funding allowed us to hire key team members and accelerate product development. Beyond financial support, NTDP provides strong operational accountability. Monthly follow-ups, milestone tracking, and technical support pushed us to ship faster and improve product quality. We’ve now launched more than seven AI-enabled features inside our platform, something that would have taken significantly longer without this support. Sometimes external pressure is exactly what a startup needs to unlock its full potential.

What are Remedium’s goals for the next five years?

Locally, we want to become the default sustainability reporting platform in Saudi Arabia. Our mission is to help companies skip outdated spreadsheet-based reporting and move directly into digital sustainability infrastructure.

Regionally, we’re targeting MENA markets and other parts of the Global South, including North Africa and Southeast Asia, where sustainability compliance is growing but affordable solutions are limited. Long-term, we benchmark ourselves against global sustainability software unicorns. When the timing is right, we plan to expand into Europe and North America as well.

Accessibility is core to our mission. We want sustainability reporting to be affordable, scalable, and practical, not only for large corporations but also for mid-sized enterprises.

What excites you most about Saudi Arabia’s startup ecosystem?

The energy. You see founders of all ages, young graduates, mid-career professionals, and experienced executives, starting companies. The ecosystem is extremely active. There are accelerators, incubators, venture builders, family offices, and government programs working together. Some weeks, there are so many events that you have to choose between multiple opportunities happening on the same day. Beyond institutional support, Saudi culture plays a big role. Networking is natural. Introductions happen organically. People genuinely want to help each other succeed. That combination is powerful.

What advice would you give to founders building startups in Saudi Arabia?

For local founders:

• Don’t wait for perfection. Launch early and improve over time.
• Accept risk, it’s part of entrepreneurship.
• Focus fully on your startup instead of splitting attention across multiple projects.
• Build strong business fundamentals: governance, financial management, and operational discipline.
• Gain professional experience before launching if possible — it accelerates maturity.

For international founders: Saudi Arabia is extremely welcoming. There are strong soft-landing programs, access to capital, talented professionals, and real market demand.

Come, explore the ecosystem, attend events, meet people, the opportunity becomes clear once you experience it firsthand.

Final Thoughts

Fawaz Abughazaleh’s journey with Remedium reflects Saudi Arabia’s broader transition toward data-driven sustainability and ESG accountability. By automating environmental reporting and empowering companies with actionable insights, Remedium is helping businesses turn sustainability from a compliance obligation into a strategic advantage.

As climate responsibility becomes a defining business priority worldwide, platforms like Remedium will play a critical role in shaping the future of transparent, measurable impact.