Saudi Arabia’s fintech landscape is witnessing significant growth as Simplified Financial Solutions Co., a B2B spend management platform, has successfully garnered a $10 million seed investment. The capital injection was spearheaded by Sanabil Investments, a Public Investment Fund subsidiary, and RAED Ventures, with contributions from a consortium of investors including anb seed, Rua Ventures, Byld, and KBW Ventures. Existing backers such as Khwarizmi Ventures, Seedra Ventures, and Tech Invest Com also participated in the funding round.
Established in 2021 by entrepreneur Ahmed Al-Hakbani, SiFi is revolutionizing corporate financial management with smart corporate cards, instantaneous spending insights, and streamlined expense workflows. CEO Al-Hakbani expressed enthusiasm for the secured funding, anticipating that it will significantly enhance SiFi’s service offerings, provide substantial value to its clientele, and solidify its position as the premier spend management solution in the region.
Al-Hakbani highlighted SiFi’s goal to empower corporate stakeholders to make timely, informed decisions while providing finance teams with robust tools to enforce spending policies. The company’s vision includes aiding businesses in decentralizing their spending processes, increasing oversight, and fostering growth.
“What attracted us to SiFi was three-fold: its outstanding team, compelling product offering, and the largely underserved market in Saudi Arabia, as businesses are increasingly recognizing the need for more efficient financial management tools. We look forward to supporting their next phase of growth and helping them capture the opportunity ahead,” a spokesperson for Sanabil Investments remarked.
Meanwhile, the MENA region’s startup ecosystem experienced a remarkable investment boom in May, with 40 startups raising $282 million, marking a 413 percent increase from April’s $55 million. This uptick was primarily fueled by debt financing, representing nearly $140 million of the total raised, as reported by Wamda’s monthly analysis.
However, the region faced a 58 percent year-on-year decrease in deal value, down from the previous May’s $445 million. UAE’s Property Finder led the pack with a $90 million debt round, with Huspy and Keyper securing substantial funds as well. The UAE dominated in terms of investment volume, followed by Saudi and Egyptian startups. The proptech sector emerged as the top recipient of funds, followed by fintech and logistics.
Significant funding also flowed into the agritech and SaaS sectors, with later-stage startups attracting substantial capital. Although male founders received the lion’s share of investments, there was a noticeable increase in deals with mixed-gender co-founders. The venture capital landscape saw the launch of several new funds, including a $100 million collaboration between BIM Ventures and Japan’s SBI Holdings and a $250 million Afiyah Fund LP by UAE’s TVM Capital Healthcare.
In addition, UAE-based AI startup qeen.ai raised $2.2 million in pre-seed funding, and London and Dubai-based fintech firm Elevate secured $5 million in a pre-series A round, signaling robust activity and growth opportunities within the region’s business and technology sectors.