Salman Butt
About Salman Butt
Salman Butt is a co-founder of Salla, an e-commerce platform that Crunchbase describes as a leading one in the MENA region. His Crunchbase profile lists his location as Makkah, Saudi Arabia, and says he has more than 25 years of experience in information technology, research and innovation, and digital transformation.
The same profile says he won a self-made entrepreneur of the year prize in Saudi Arabia in 2021. It also lists him as co-founder of KnowledgeX.sa, which it describes as an entity working on how the knowledge economy interacts with the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Crunchbase lists 13 personal investments for Salman Butt. Its latest listed entry is a pre-seed round in Byzanlink. His profile says he has also been an angel investor in 5 other MENA unicorns, but it does not name them in the text available to us.
In December 2021, TechCrunch reported that he joined Opontia's $42M round as an angel investor. Opontia is an e-commerce brand aggregator focused on Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
In August 2026 he took part in Raff's $1.7M pre-seed round. Raff is a Saudi retailtech startup founded in 2024 by Ali Al Qudah and Abdul Kareem Munla. Vision Ventures led the round, with 500 Global, Palm VC and Oqal Group also participating. Raff's platform digitises distribution, inventory management, order fulfilment and payments for consumer brands. The funding is meant to support GCC expansion, product development and the company's AI capabilities.
Raff is the only AI-related round we could confirm for him. Crunchbase also lists AmplifAI Health, a pre-seed investment, but we did not verify what that company does or when he invested.
His confirmed deals are early-stage rounds (pre-seed, seed and Series A) in startups based in or targeting Saudi Arabia, the GCC and the wider MENA region. Most are in e-commerce, retail technology and logistics. Crunchbase lists Cargoz, a seed-round company, in his portfolio. He has not made public statements about check size or investment criteria that we could find, so none are listed here.
- Raff: Saudi inventory and distribution platform for consumer brands and retailers; joined its $1.7M pre-seed round in August 2026.
- Opontia: e-commerce brand aggregator in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa; joined its $42M Series A round as an angel in December 2021.
- Byzanlink: listed on Crunchbase as his latest investment, a pre-seed round; date not confirmed.
- AmplifAI Health: listed on Crunchbase as a pre-seed investment; date not confirmed.
- Cargoz: listed on Crunchbase as a seed-round investment; date not confirmed.
Investing activity
Salman Butt appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Pre-seed, with a median round size of $2M. The most recent is Raff (Pre-seed, $1.7M, Aug 2026).
Salman Butt most often invests alongside Vision Ventures, Oqal Group, 500 Emerging Europe (500 Global) and Palm VC, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Salman Butt
Who is Salman Butt?
Salman Butt is a co-founder of the Saudi e-commerce platform Salla and an angel investor in MENA startups. Crunchbase also lists him as co-founder of KnowledgeX.sa.
Does Salman Butt invest in AI startups?
He participated in the $1.7M pre-seed round of Raff, a Saudi retailtech startup building AI capabilities, in August 2026. We found no other confirmed AI-specific deals.
What stage does Salman Butt invest in?
His confirmed investments are early-stage: pre-seed (Raff, Byzanlink, AmplifAI Health), seed (Cargoz) and Series A (Opontia).
What is Salman Butt's check size?
He has not published a check size and we found no reliable report of one. Founders should not assume any figure.
Does Salman Butt invest outside Saudi Arabia and the Middle East?
Most of his confirmed deals target MENA or the GCC. Opontia also operates in Eastern Europe, and Crunchbase lists his regions as EMEA, the GCC and the Middle East.
Which Salman Butt invested in Raff?
Press coverage of the Raff round identifies him as the co-founder of Salla. He is not the former Pakistani Attorney-General Salman Aslam Butt.
Is Salman Butt an angel investor?
Yes. Salman Butt invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Salman Butt invested in?
Salman Butt's AI investments include Raff. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Salman Butt invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Salman Butt has invested at Pre-seed, with a median round of $2M.
Who does Salman Butt co-invest with?
Salman Butt's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Vision Ventures (1 deal), Oqal Group (1 deal), 500 Emerging Europe (500 Global) (1 deal) and Palm VC (1 deal).