PILLAR targets Middle East expansion with US$15 million Series A round. The Singapore-headquartered startup will use the capital to deploy its artificial intelligence mortgage infrastructure across the Middle East Get the hottest Fintech Singapore News once a month in your Inbox Singapore-headquartered fintech PILLAR plans to raise US$10 million to US$15 million in a Series A funding round to finance its Middle East expansion. The company is targeting Saudi Arabia due to its low mortgage penetration and large housing development pipeline, according to a report by DealStreetAsia. Investors have already committed more than half of the targeted amount. Founder and CEO Ilya Kravtsov said the company recently received a pre-Series A investment from Saudi Angel Investors. The funding will support its rollout in the Kingdom. PILLAR was founded in Indonesia in 2022 under the name Ringkas. The company provides embedded mortgage infrastructure for banks and property developers. The startup raised US$5.1 million in a 2025 pre-Series A funding round led by Flourish Ventures and Kadan Capital. The round brought its total capital raised to roughly US$13.6 million. The company entered Saudi Arabia in November 2025 through a partnership with the Public Investment Fund-backed developer ROSHN Group. This expanded its presence beyond Southeast Asia, alongside its existing operations in Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. Southeast Asian fintechs look to the Gulf. PILLAR's expansion mirrors a trend of Southeast Asian technology companies targeting Gulf markets. Indonesian enterprise AI firm Kata.ai recently signed a contract with a Dubai government agency to build multilingual AI voice agents for public services. Healthcare startup Nafas has similarly entered Qatar. The expansion trend aligns with deepening investment ties between the two regions. Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund Danantara and the Qatar Investment Authority established a US$4 billion investment platform in 2025. The platform will fund technology, healthcare and infrastructure projects. Kravtsov noted that business development in the Middle East takes longer than in Southeast Asia. He said companies need to build long-term relationships and maintain a dedicated local presence. Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by magnific via Magnific

The collaboration integrates Kanari AI's cutting-edge speech recognition technology with Kata.ai's sophisticated chatbot solutions, creating a seamless, multilingual conversational AI experience.