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If you're ready to take your business to the next level with Shorooq Partners, we want to hear your pitch.

Investment in Startup

Shorooq Partners

Fintech

E-Commerce

Other

Shorooq Partners is an Abu Dhabi-based investment fund that specializes in backing early-stage technology startups, primarily in the MENAP region.

Riyadh

Tamara

Tamara offers a buy now, pay later platform that enables customers to pay in installments.

Pure Harvest

Foodtech

Renewables

Environment

Sustainable

Agritech

Agribusiness

A pioneering agritech company, Pure Harvest commits to sustainably producing fresh fruits and vegetables using innovative technology in controlled-environment agriculture.

Pre-IPO

TruKKer

Logistics

Freight Service

Supply Chain Management

Transportation

TruKKer is a technology-enabled truck aggregator that operates multiple truck types for multiple end markets.

Cairo

Capiter

Capiter is a B2B marketplace that provides a payment method that offers cash flow solutions for small to medium-sized businesses.

Muscat

44.01 Climate Tech

We eliminate CO2 by turning it into rock using the natural power of mineralisation.

Retailo Technologies

Retail

Khazna

A Financial Super App that offers easy to use, technology-driven  to Egypt’s underserved consumers and micro-businesses.

Dubai

Qlub

Qlub develops a fast and secure payment solution for consumers in restaurants.

Airlift Technologies

Logistics & Storage

Lean

Lean is a B2B fintech platform that builds developer-friendly APIs. Developers can build and launch cutting-edge financial products to connect to their users’ bank accounts.

Lendo

Finance

Lendo is a fintech startup that provides a range of financing products and offers a peer-to-peer lending platform with a core focus on SMEs' debt finance.

NymCard

Banking

California

Augmented Reality

VUZ is a social app that allows users to stream and experience XR and the Metaverse.

Breadfast

Food and Beverage

Breadfast delivers household essentials, bakeries, groceries, fruits, veggies, and more than 3,000 items in minutes.

Immensa

Oil and Gas

Manufacturing

Sarwa

Sarwa is an online platform that makes investing in global markets simple and affordable for investors in the Middle East.

ZenLedger

Pemo

Management

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Pemo is a leading provider of spend management solutions for SMEs with its all-in-one platform to help businesses in managing their spending and streamline their financial operations.

Mozn

AI/IoT

Software Dev/Test

Market leader in enterprise AI technologies that empower organizations, with a focus on Arabic NLU and Finance intelligence.

Triple A

Souqalmal

Souqalmal provides financial comparison site for money management. Souqalmal.com is the leading financial comparison site in the Middle East with operations in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE.

MUNCH:ON

Information Technology

Food Delivery

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one of the region’s fastest-growing food delivery apps, providing home and office addresses with a quick and convenient way of ordering a variety of meals at a fraction of the cost.

Proteinea

Biotechnology

Lahore

PostEx

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Tazah Technologies

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Karachi

DealCart

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DealCart enables users to buy their favorite products in groups by allowing users to buy in groups and sharing deals on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.

DHARMA

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Aumet

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Spry Health

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Joi Gifts

Joi Gifts is a full-service mobile platform for physical gifts. joi was born out of the belief that the world can be made a happier place, one gift at a time. With the best quality flowers and free same-day delivery, premium cakes and chocolates, balloons, gourmet gift baskets, unique personalized items and more, we have what it takes

Penny Software

Penny is a cloud-based Procure-To-Pay system. penny helps you digitize and manage your full procurement cycle from request to approval. Manage RFQs to vendors, compare quotations, send POs and even payment. penny was designed to make things easy and consolidate all of yourorganization’s spending needs into one intelligent system

Clara

Technology

Quotabook

Istanbul

Roamless

Software

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Repzo

Repzo Inc. is a salesforce automation company based in Jordan with more than 200 clients and distributors in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, Qatar, Oman, and many other countries across the MENA region.

Pearl Semiconductor

Pearl Semiconductor has been developing for the past few years reference clocks and clock generators based on piezoelectric.

The Food Lab

DXwand

DXwand is a technology & AI passionate team curious about transforming businesses with AI to be their growth partner.

Truck Lagbe

SmartCrowd

Real Estate

Proptech

Smart Crowd is a real estate investment platform that provides you an opportunity to access the UAE real estate market with a low minimum investment amount from a simple online portal.

Luma Health

Amman

Wajeez

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Wajeez is a paid app that provides users with audio and text summaries of nonfiction books in Arabic.

Valeo

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Colabs

AmwalTech

Khazenly

Wayne Hills Bryant AI

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Jeddah

Levers

DigiKhata

Mumbai

Impact Guru

London

Fuse Financial Technologies

Agroshift

AgTech

Enhance Ventures

Web Development

Enhance is a venture builder that develops web and mobile-enabled businesses for the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Turkey.

Zyp Technologies

Electric Vehicle

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Zyp Technologies is on a mission to make electric mobility safe, reliable and affordable for all, so we can accelerate towards a net-zero carbon emissions world!

RentSher Middle East

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RentSher is the region's first online marketplace for rentals for events, electronics, medical and travel related products. We deliver various items on rent such indoor and outdoor party furniture, exhibition furniture,inflatables and bouncy castles, birthday party furniture and entertainment services, tents and marquees, ACs, coolers, fans and heaters, laptops, projectors, audio-video equipment, gaming consoles, cameras, lenses, strollers, car-seats, wheelchairs, etc. Our products and services are sourced from our trusted suppliers and individual asset owners and then quality tested by team RentSher before delivering to your doorstep.

The products and services listed on our website will help you on birthday party ideas including tables and chairs, bouncy castles, party entertainers, magicians, play area etc. For outdoor and indoor parties we provide tables and chairs, sofas, BBQ, tents, majlis, gazebos, lighting, mist fans, heaters and all party equipment on rent. For startups we provide laptops, desktops, MacBook, iPad, tablets on rent. RentSher also provides medical equipment such as wheelchairs and crutches on rent. You hire a wide variety of products just with one click or quick call.

RentSher is founded and led by team of experienced professionals determined towards making making the renting process a happy experience for customers as well as suppliers of products.

Melltoo

Mobile marketplace for buying and selling second hand things.

QuickBus

Hafla | حفلة

A one-stop-shop for event organizers to discover, book, and pay for everything they need for an event. Hafla’s tech platform is bringing together event planners, venues, equipment rental companies, caterers, artists and a long tail of service providers to transact seamlessly.

Santechture

Support & Management Services

Santechture is a healthcare technology innovator transforming Revenue Cycle Management in Asia with smart AI and cloud-based solutions.

Cayesh

Virtualness

Nuqta NFT

KTrade (KASB Securities)

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KTrade (KASB Securities) makes your investment hassle-free. It is easy and convenient for anyone and everyone

OneZapp

Averroes

About

Yawmi

Dtonic

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Riyadh-based fintech Lendo has raised $7.2 million in a Series A round led by Saudi’s Derayah Ventures, it announced in a statement today to MENAbytes. The equity-only round also includes participation of Seedra Ventures, Shorooq Partners, 500 Startups, and Impact46.

Founded in 2019 by Osama AlRaee and Mohammad Jawabri, Lendo offers instant invoice financing to SMEs through its Shariah-complaint lending marketplace. The offering helps SMEs with their immediate cash requirements. Invoice financing is a popular short-term borrowing tool for businesses in different markets around the world where they use their receivables to get loans from banks (or other financial institutions) but there are hardly any banks that offer it in the region.

Lendo offers loans starting from SAR 100,000 (about $27,000) and going up to SAR 3 million ($800,000) by connecting the SMEs with investors on its marketplace through crowdlending (aka peer-to-peer lending). The SMEs looking for financing can apply on Lendo’s platform if they have a valid Saudi business license (commercial registration), have been in operations for at least one year, and have an annual turnover of SAR 2 million ($530,000) at least.

The startup takes up to three days to review the profile after receiving all the required details and documentation. If approved, the business can apply for financing of up to 80 percent of the invoice value sold to the customer. These opportunities are then shared on Lendo’s platform with the investors who finance them collectively.  Lendo claims that on average it takes about half an hour for an opportunity on its platform to close (i.e. raise the money needed).

The investments start from SAR 1,000 (about $270) and can be made by any Saudi citizen or resident over the age of 18 who has a valid ID and a bank account. The expected annual profits range from 9 to 24 percent depending on the risk profile of the SME. All the opportunities listed on Lendo receive a risk rating based on its credit history, financial position, owners’ personal credit history and experience, and invoice strength.

“We provide solutions to two major pain points in the SME finance market. First, the limited options for SME businesses to borrow cash quickly and easily and second, the limited short-term options that offer higher returns for investors/lenders,” said the startup in a statement.

Lendo makes money by charging the SMEs with a management fee and taking a 20 percent cut from the profit investors make.

Launched just last year, Lendo claims to have financed over 100 invoices worth over SAR 60 million for SMEs and given more than SAR 3 million in profits to its investors. Its co-founder and CEO Osama AlRaee told MENAbytes that they currently have a default rate of zero.

In a statement, commenting on the occasion, he said, “We are proud to be backed by leading investors who have excellent knowledge and experience in the most rapidly maturing MENA entrepreneurial ecosystem. Aside from the financial support and expert advice from the pioneers in the market, their trust in our business model will help us achieve both our short term and long-term goals and scale our business to the next level.”

“The additional investment helped us create more opportunities for Lendo to finance businesses during the challenging economic climate brought about by Covid-19. Our strategy is to provide access to low-profit rate financing to SMEs and help funders receive better returns. Our alternative form of financing has proven to be faster in getting the needed cash flow and has become an essential part of the recovery strategies for many of our customers/clients. We are proud to be the preferred platform of choice for SMEs lending and borrowing in Saudi Arabia and look forward to being pioneers in the wider MENA region,” he added.

Mohammad Jawabri, the co-founder and COO of Lendo, said, “As a team of fintech experts, we combine financial expertise with advanced technology to bring our clients solutions that can turn waiting time into a valuable win-win situation for all parties involved. During the pandemic, there was a huge surge in the numbers of SMEs who turned to Lendo for financing to keep their businesses afloat. Our 25% month-on-month growth is a testimony of the hard work, dedication, and commitment of our team.”

The startup, for now, is looking to expand into Saudi to serve Jeddah and Eastern Region before it launches in other parts of the region. It is also looking to introduce new products to help SMEs raise working capital. The SME lending landscape in Saudi also includes players like Raqamyah (which raised $2.3 million just last month – and interestingly the round was led by Impact46, a firm that has also participated in Lendo’s funding round), Forus, and Dubai-headquartered Beehive. Lendo is one of the many lending startups that are part of Saudi Central Bank’s regulatory sandbox.

Faris Alrashed from Derayah Ventures, said, “The Lendo team has built a remarkable company which is evidenced by their performance especially during the initial months of Covid-19. Lendo is a powerful solution in the industry and its offering is well-timed with the rapidly increasing demand for financing solutions in the dynamic SME lending arena. We firmly believe in the founders and their unparalleled focus on execution, user experience, and scale.”

Shane Shin, the Founding Partner of Shorooq Partners, said, “As the only new investor to join Lendo’s journey, we are humbled and excited to work closely with Osama, Mohammed and the Lendo team to propel their growth within Saudi as they become the dominant regional player.”

Saudi’s Lendo raises $7.2 million Series A for its SME lending marketplace

UAE-based Immersive video mobile app 360VUZ, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding as part of a bridge round from Knollwood, Impact46, and DAI. This latest investment brings the startup’s total funding raised to date to $8.4 million. According to Crunchbase, the company raised $7.2 million in its Series A round. 

Other investors include Shorooq Partners, KBW Ventures, Media Visions, AlTouq Group, Vision Ventures, Hala Ventures, 500Startups, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, Jonathan Labin, DTEC Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, Al Rashid family and other strategic angel investors.

Founded in 2017, The 360VUZ Teleporter mobile app has been adopted in more than 25 countries with a significant increase in user engagement and revenues month over month. The app leverages immersive media such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and extended reality (XR) to disrupt the telecommunications market.

In Q3 2020, 360VUZ signed agreements with more than 25 new telecoms companies from around the world covering markets such as the UK, Spain, Malaysia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, and South Africa. The new agreements were aimed to ease out the subscription for 360VUZ users around the globe and enhance their immersive experience.

“We believe that now more than ever our mission is vital to help people and businesses from all around the world by removing barriers of TTA (Travel, Time and Access) using our immersive platform and technologies,” said Khaled Zaatarah, founder and CEO of 360VUZ.

Recently, 360VUZ has introduced a set of features on a monthly basis such as the celebrity voice chat feature and VIP chat feature, connecting its users to celebrities.

With the new capital infusion, the company will be able to further develop its immersive video app proprietary technology and innovative features, expand its global reach, and offer more personalized experiences to build a hyper-connected world.

“360VUZ is uniquely positioned to build a global success story. The company has already demonstrated success in building an innovative product that is capable of being highly scalable to different geographies globally,” said Chris Rogers, 360VUZ board member and mobile industry expert.

“With the rise of the entertainment sector in Saudi Arabia, 360VUZ is in a great position to capitalise on this opportunity with its innovative technology and offer a full virtual experience. We’re excited to share the journey with the 360VUZ team, and admire their desire and determination to explore various areas of partnership with both local and international enterprises and introducing a product to serve a global scale,”  said Abdulaziz Alomran, founding partner at Impact46.

360VUZ raises bridge round investment

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