Babar Khan

• Head of Technology Investments, NEOM Investment Fund. Leads investments and joint ventures across technology and life science platforms, building the industries of the future in Saudi Arabia.
• Co-Founder, AI Astrolabe. Post-training data, reinforcement learning environments and evaluations for frontier and enterprise AI.

Babar deploys sovereign capital across deep tech, biotech and applied AI. He has led more than $150M in transactions through the full cycle, from origination and technical diligence through deal structuring and portfolio management, and has structured cross-border joint ventures to localize frontier technology in the Gulf.

His selected track record, investment focus and the way he works with founders and co-investors are set out on the Perspective page.

Babar co-founded AI Astrolabe in 2024 to develop post-training data, reinforcement learning environments and evaluations for frontier and enterprise AI. As a trusted AI Data Lab, AI Astrolabe's work is strongest where quality depends on expert judgment, safety, multilingual capability and multimodal data.

He leads commercial strategy, partnerships, fundraising and business operations, and built a capital-efficient operating model for complex expert, multilingual and safety-focused programs.

Babar holds board and governance roles across the portfolio he invests in: Board Member at BlueNalu and at Liberation Bioindustries, and Board Observer at Paradromics. He represents institutional capital at board level while working as an ally to technical founders moving from concept to commercial.

• PhD, Bioscience. King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), 2018.
• MS, Microbiology. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), 2011. Completed while working full time as a scientist at Genzyme Genetics. UMDNJ merged into Rutgers in 2013, and the school is now the Rutgers Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
• BS, Organismal and Environmental Biology. State University of New York at New Paltz, 2008.

In 2019 Babar was named an Innovator Under 35 by MIT Technology Review, on its list for the Middle East and North Africa, recognized for the sensor technology that detects early bacterial accumulation in water desalination plants. The award was presented at EmTech MENA in Dubai.

Babar is a scientist by training and holds a PhD in Bioscience from KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology). In his doctoral work, he produced a low-cost sensor system for measuring microbial activity in water purification and desalination systems. He completed his Master's degree in Microbiology while working full time as a scientist at Genzyme Genetics. Babar holds multiple US patents. He publishes under the name Babar Khalid Khan; his work is indexed on Google Scholar and under ORCID.

At ContraFect Corp, an antimicrobial biotech in New York, he led preclinical development of CF-301 (exebacase), the first bacteriophage lysin the FDA allowed into human clinical trials, working directly with the CEO through a $20M financing period. The company later completed an IPO.

Babar co-founded QualSens in 2016 to commercialize the sensor he built during his PhD, supported by KAUST and grant funding. QualSens is a fluorescence-based sensing platform for the early detection of biofouling in seawater desalination systems. He led product development, prototype engineering, hiring, and raising non-dilutive funding through to 2021. KAUST profiled the company as its Startup of the Week, and Arab News covered it as part of Saudi Arabia's water technology sector.

Babar is Pakistani-American, a Saudi Premium Resident and a UAE Golden Visa holder, with networks spanning US and China venture, GCC sovereign wealth and global policy circles. He works across Riyadh and New York.