Saudi fintech erad raises $22 million Series A led by MEVP. News - 28 September, 2026 * Saudi Arabia-based fintech erad has raised $22 million in Series A funding led by MEVP, with participation from new investors 500 Global, Saudi Venture Capital (SVC), S60 Ventures, ANB Capital, Conjunction Capital and Araya Ventures, alongside existing investors Khwarizmi Ventures, Nuwa Capital, Aljazira Capital, Oraseya Capital and Joa Capital. * Founded in 2022 by Salem Abu-Hammour, Faris Yaghmour, Abdulmalik Almeheini and Youssef Said, Riyadh-headquartered erad provides SMEs in Saudi Arabia and the UAE with Shariah-compliant working-capital financing of up to SAR10 million, using data and AI to assess businesses and provide approvals within an average of 48 hours. * The company will use the Series A funding to develop new financing products, expand further across the GCC and grow its technology and commercial teams, with a particular focus on capital-intensive sectors including industrial, logistics and manufacturing. * In November 2025, erad secured a $125 million scalable facility led by Jefferies. erad, the Riyadh-headquartered alternative financing platform for SMEs, today announced the close of a $22 million Series A funding round (SAR 78.75 million) led by MEVP, with participation from new investors SVC, 500 Global, S60 Ventures, ANB Capital, Conjunction Capital, and Araya Ventures. Existing investors Khwarizmi, Nuwa Capital, Aljazira Capital, Oraseya, and Joa Capital also participated, reinforcing their continued conviction in erad's trajectory. The raise comes on the back of 8x year-over-year growth for erad in Saudi Arabia, having deployed over SAR 500 million ($133 mn) in cumulative financing to SMEs, indicative of growing demand for alternative growth capital across the GCC. The company has received more than SAR 4bn ($1bn) in financing requests from SMEs to date, which underscores the scale of unmet demand for working capital across the region. erad is currently seeing growth beyond its original target sectors to serve businesses across logistics, medical equipment, and wholesale distribution. The company's data-driven underwriting enables it to track client cash flows, limit risk, and manage additional financing needs. "SMEs represent approximately 50% of regional GDP and employ two-thirds of the workforce across the GCC, yet face a financing gap that limits their growth. This round marks a pivotal chapter for erad as our clients seek speed to capital and markets. We have proven that our model works and businesses across sectors are coming to us because we make financing fast, fair, and frictionless, said Salem Abu-Hammour, Co-founder of erad. "What excites me most is where we go from here, which is deeper into new sectors, into new products that did not exist before, and powering the businesses that are scaling across the region." Across the region, erad's financing has translated into real growth for the businesses it serves, funding everything from fleet expansion and inventory to new locations and larger contracts, without tying up the cash they need to operate. On average, clients are approved within 48 hours, and 85% continue to grow with erad, expanding their financing within the first year. Jad EL Boustani, Partner at MEVP, said, "Wamda is backing erad because they're addressing the GCC's $250 billion SME financing gap while building a sustainable, high-quality financing business. What gives Wamda the most conviction is the team: Salem and the founding team have paired real domain expertise with disciplined execution, turning a clear market need into 8x year-over-year growth in Saudi and a 48-hour approval engine that scales. Their technology-first approach and rigorous underwriting balance growth ambition with risk discipline, which is exactly what the GCC's economic transformation needs. This round reinforces MEVP's commitment to Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC tech ecosystem. The company currently offers multiple working capital products to serve businesses in various sectors. Its proprietary AI models enable the platform to process higher volumes and larger ticket sizes while managing risk. Financing from erad is available up to SAR 10 million and is fully Shariah-compliant, giving businesses flexible payment terms at the point of need. Following its Series A, erad will double down on new financing products built to serve the demand it's seeing across the market. These offerings will be tailored to the needs of the sectors erad is expanding into; including industrial, logistics, and manufacturing; capital-intensive industries that are scaling rapidly across the GCC and beyond. erad will also grow its team across the region, with strategic hiring across technology and commercial functions.

Babylist, the baby-commerce discovery and transaction destination, today announced it has raised $40 million in Series C funding led by new investor Norwest ...

BRKZ attracts $31 million with Wa'ed backing. Tue 15 Sep 2026 · AP News Saudi building materials procurement platform BRKZ has raised $31 million in fresh capital, with Aramco-backed Wa'ed Ventures co-leading a $13 million Series B equity round alongside 500 Global. The financing also includes an $18 million growth-debt commitment from Stride Ventures, part of a previously announced $30 million venture-debt facility. BECO Capital and ANB Seed Fund participated in the equity round, BRKZ said on Monday. The Riyadh-based company plans to use the money to expand its artificial intelligence capabilities across quotation, pricing and fulfilment, widen embedded financing for contractors and suppliers, and strengthen cross-border sourcing from major manufacturing markets including China and India. BRKZ said revenue is on track to triple in 2026 after growing 2.5 times in 2025, despite supply-chain disruption and volatile material prices across the Middle East. The company now serves more than 1,500 contracting companies and 150 building-materials factories, supported by about 2,100 local and international suppliers. Since inception, BRKZ says it has sold more than $133 million, or about 500 million riyals, of raw, local and imported building materials and processed more than $1.37 billion, or 5.13 billion riyals, in requests for quotation through its platform. Founder and chief executive Ibrahim Manna said the financing would allow BRKZ to build on the supply network, infrastructure and data assembled during its first years of operation. He said contractors and factories continued to demand reliable material access, competitive pricing and dependable fulfilment even during periods of regional disruption. Wa'ed Ventures chief executive Anas Alghatani said the investor's continued support reflected confidence in BRKZ's ability to make building-material procurement more efficient, connected and data driven. Wa'ed Ventures, wholly owned by Aramco, describes itself as a $500 million venture-capital fund focused on technology companies and the development of Saudi Arabia's startup ecosystem. The round gives BRKZ additional resources to automate a procurement process that remains heavily dependent on manual sourcing, negotiations and fragmented logistics. The company operates a platform through which contractors, distributors and factories can source local, imported and raw materials while BRKZ manages pricing, quality assurance, logistics and commercial terms. Its AI pricing engine draws on about 38 million structured data points covering more than 13,000 product records and over 2,100 supplier profiles. BRKZ says the engine has been trained on around 40,000 requests for quotation and that 84% to 89% of its price predictions come within 5% of the final transacted price. The company is also using AI agents in parts of its daily operations. Its delivery system, called Nusa, reads photographs of delivery notes sent by transporters through WhatsApp, matches them with orders, verifies quantities and closes completed bulk-cement deliveries, with employees handling exceptions. BRKZ says roughly three-quarters of delivery notes are processed without manual override. The new capital will also support financing products intended to address working-capital pressures faced by construction businesses. Stride Ventures' debt commitment is designed to help BRKZ fund working capital and offer more flexible payment terms to customers while the company expands procurement volumes. BRKZ has been scaling alongside Saudi Arabia's large construction pipeline, supplying contractors and businesses linked to projects including Diriyah, Qiddiya, ROSHN, King Salman Park and The Red Sea development. Earlier this year, it also received a strategic investment from SIDF Investment Company, the investment arm of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund. The company's expansion strategy centres on increasing direct supply corridors for specialised and private-label building materials as well as broadening domestic supplier coverage. BRKZ says the model gives customers a single procurement relationship across sourcing, transport and payment, while allowing suppliers to reach contractors beyond traditional geographic markets. Its financing tools are intended to align payment schedules more closely with construction project cash-flow cycles. Follow Arabian Post. Select Arabian Post as your preferred source on Google and MSN News for trusted business news and Arab politics and updates. Notice an issue? Arabian Post strives to deliver the most accurate and reliable information to its readers. If you believe you have identified an error or inconsistency in this article, please don't hesitate to contact our editorial team at editor[at]thearabianpost[dot]com. We are committed to promptly addressing any concerns and ensuring the highest level of journalistic integrity.