Fina Secures US$75M Shariah-Compliant Facility to Close Saudi SME Funding Gap

Mohammed Aldossary, SILQ Co-founder and SILQ Financial CEO

Saudi fintech platform Fina, the embedded finance arm of SILQ, has secured a US$75 million (SAR 282 million) Shariah-compliant financing facility from Fasanara Capital, a London-based global investment manager overseeing approximately US$6 billion (SAR 22.5 billion) in assets under management.

The financing strengthens SILQ's ambition to build Saudi Arabia's next-generation B2B financial infrastructure by embedding working capital directly into the digital platforms where small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) buy, sell, collect payments, and manage operations.

The announcement comes as Saudi Arabia accelerates digital transformation under Vision 2030, with fintech and SME financing emerging as key pillars of economic diversification.

Why Is This Financing Facility Important for Saudi Arabia's SME Ecosystem?

Saudi Arabia's SME sector remains one of the Kingdom's highest-priority economic segments.

According to the Saudi SME Bank, the country's SME financing gap is estimated at approximately SAR 300 billion, despite continued growth in lending. Closing this gap is central to Vision 2030, which aims to increase SMEs' contribution to national GDP while expanding private-sector participation.

Traditional financing often remains slow, collateral-heavy, and disconnected from merchants' daily business activities. Embedded finance addresses this challenge by integrating financing directly into commercial workflows, allowing businesses to access working capital based on real transaction data rather than lengthy manual applications.

This financing facility enables Fina to scale that model across Saudi Arabia.

What Is Fina's Embedded Finance Model?

Rather than treating financing as a standalone banking product, Fina integrates working capital directly into merchants' operational workflows.

Using commercial transaction data, payment histories, and operational insights, the platform delivers financing that is:

• Faster to access
• Structured around real business activity
• Shariah-compliant
• Embedded within existing digital commerce platforms
• Designed specifically for SME cash flow needs

This approach reduces friction for merchants while improving access to financing precisely when businesses need liquidity.

How Does SILQ's Ecosystem Support More Than 50,000 Businesses?

Fina builds on SILQ's broader B2B ecosystem, which includes Saudi wholesale marketplace Sary alongside embedded financial services.

Together, Sary and Fina have supported more than 50,000 businesses across Saudi Arabia through integrated commerce, payments, digital operations, and working capital solutions.

By operating throughout merchants' daily commercial activities, SILQ has developed visibility into business performance that enables more data-driven lending decisions.

To date, the company has facilitated more than SAR 20 billion in transaction volume across the Kingdom.

SILQ's ecosystem at a glance

Metric	Value
Financing facility	US$75 million (SAR 282M)
Fasanara assets under management	US$6 billion (SAR 22.5B)
Businesses supported	50,000+ SMEs
Transaction volume enabled	SAR 20 billion+
Liquidity deployed (last 12 months)	SAR 1.5 billion
Liquidity target for 2026	SAR 3 billion
Target businesses in 2026	2,000+ SMEs
Saudi SME financing gap	SAR 300 billion

What Did SILQ and Fasanara Say About the Partnership?

Mohammed Aldossary, Co-founder of SILQ and CEO of SILQ Financial, said the company developed Fina after identifying that SMEs require financing aligned with how merchants actually operate rather than generic lending products.

He said the partnership with Fasanara combines embedded finance expertise with Shariah-compliant financing to deliver working capital at the speed modern businesses require.

Matt Kus, Partner and Head of Origination at Fasanara Capital, said the investment reflects confidence in technology-enabled SME financing platforms and the growing role of embedded finance in improving capital access for businesses.

How Will the New Facility Accelerate Growth?

Building on its existing operations, Fina plans to:

• Unlock SAR 3 billion in SME liquidity during 2026
• Serve more than 2,000 businesses
• Expand embedded Shariah-compliant working capital products
• Scale financing through digital commerce infrastructure
• Strengthen Saudi Arabia's fintech ecosystem under Vision 2030

The company previously deployed SAR 1.5 billion in financing over the past 12 months, providing a foundation for the next phase of expansion.

Why Does This Matter for Saudi Arabia's Fintech Sector?

The transaction reflects broader momentum across Saudi Arabia's fintech industry, where embedded finance is becoming a strategic growth area alongside digital payments, lending, and B2B commerce.

Government initiatives led by Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), Fintech Saudi, and the SME Bank, together with regional innovation ecosystems such as Hub71 in Abu Dhabi, ADGM, and Saudi Arabia's growing digital economy initiatives including NEOM, are accelerating investment into financial technology infrastructure across the GCC.

Institutional investors are increasingly directing capital toward platforms that combine commerce data with financial services, enabling SMEs to access financing more efficiently while supporting regional economic diversification.

As Saudi Arabia continues implementing Vision 2030, embedded finance is expected to play an increasingly important role in closing the Kingdom's SME funding gap and improving access to capital for high-growth businesses.

 

 

FAQs

1. What is Fina?
Fina is the embedded finance platform of Saudi-based B2B ecosystem SILQ. It provides Shariah-compliant working capital to SMEs by integrating financing directly into digital commerce and operational workflows.

2. How much funding did Fina secure?
Fina secured a US$75 million (SAR 282 million) Shariah-compliant financing facility from London-based investment manager Fasanara Capital.

3. Why is embedded finance important for Saudi SMEs?
Embedded finance allows SMEs to access working capital within the digital platforms they already use, reducing approval times and improving financing access based on real commercial activity rather than traditional lending processes.

4. What is Saudi Arabia's SME financing gap?
According to the Saudi SME Bank, Saudi Arabia's SME financing gap is estimated at approximately SAR 300 billion, highlighting significant demand for alternative financing models such as embedded finance.

5. What are SILQ's growth targets following this financing?
SILQ aims to unlock SAR 3 billion in liquidity for more than 2,000 SMEs during 2026, building on SAR 1.5 billion deployed over the previous 12 months and more than SAR 20 billion in transaction volume enabled to date.