Participated · Series B · Aug 2021

Sarwa operates an automated investing product, Sarwa Invest, designed to give clients exposure to global diversified portfolios. The company plans to broaden its personal finance offerings with a commission-free stock trading product, Sarwa Trade, and a crypto-asset investment product, Sarwa Crypto. Sarwa Trade is in pre-launch and will allow trades on large international platforms with just $1; Sarwa Invest has cut its minimum investment to $5 from $500. The firm has more than 40,000 registered users across the MENA region and is a partner of Abu Dhabi’s Hub71. Sarwa is regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (Abu Dhabi) and the Dubai Financial Services Authority. Founded in 2017, the company has raised $25 million in capital to date. Sarwa operates an automated investment-advisory platform that combines algorithms with human expertise to make investing accessible in the region. The platform includes features such as automatic rebalancing and fast account opening via facial recognition, and it launched publicly in February 2018 after joining Dubai’s FinTech Hive at DIFC. Sarwa onboarded its first clients under an Innovation Testing License from the Dubai Financial Services Authority. Since going live the company reports monthly growth of over 20% and has reached more than 1,000 registered users. Total funding to date stands at over $1.5 million since its December 2017 launch. The team plans to use new capital to scale marketing, expand to other markets, grow the tech team, add features, and hire more financial advisors.

Participated · Equity · Mar 2021

Now Money provides digital banking and payroll services aimed at closing the financial inclusion gap for low-income and migrant workers in Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The company offers multilingual mobile applications that enable bill payments, savings accounts, remittances and complements digital services with in-person financial literacy training. It positions itself as a low-cost, secure option for underserved workers and has emphasized product and technology development. The recent funding will be used to expand operations across the region and to improve its technology product offerings. Leadership highlighted the investment as validation of Now Money’s vision and its potential socio-economic impact. The company previously underwent an acquisition in 2023 by Mark Nutter and Nicolas Andine, and continues to scale its inclusion-focused product set. Now Money provides a digital banking solution for low-income migrant workers, featuring accounts, low-cost remittance, and contactless-enabled Visa cards. The company partners with employers to deliver an end-to-end digital payroll solution via a payroll portal that lets companies transfer salaries and financial rewards directly to employees' NOW Money app. Founded in 2016 by Katharine Budd and Ian Dillon and based in Dubai, the fintech serves migrant workers in the UAE. Now Money plans to expand its digital banking solution into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, starting with strategic hires and local infrastructure in Riyadh. It also intends to further develop its service offering and continue growth in the UAE. Recently it secured $7M in funding to support these plans. NOW Money uses mobile banking technology to deliver accounts, financial inclusion, and low-cost remittance options to low-income migrant workers across the GCC. The company aims to provide affordable financial services at scale and improve outcomes for the 26 million unbanked in the region. In the last 12 months it has won six awards and its co-founders speak and are featured regularly at FinTech events and publications. A year after an initial seed funding round that helped expand the team and develop the technology and brand, NOW Money secured a further investment of $700,000. With this latest capital—part of its seed round—the team plans to launch service across the UAE and expand into other GCC countries. The company presents a socially focused, digital-first neobank model targeting migrant-worker remittances and financial access.

Participated · Series A · Feb 2021

FlexxPay operates a Shari'a-compliant employee benefits platform that provides on-demand access to already-earned income such as salaries, commissions, pensions, and end-of-service benefits. The company says employers see increased employee motivation and productivity and a significant decrease in reported sick leaves due to reduced financial stress. It reports HR workload reductions of around 20% by eliminating time spent processing salary advance requests. Described as a social impact technology startup, FlexxPay has offices in Europe and the GCC and operates in the UAE and KSA. The company plans to launch in Bahrain next month and to expand to the rest of MENA in the near future. FlexxPay will use the funds to further enhance its technology platform and to grow its corporate client base in the region. FlexxPay is a fintech that offers a cloud-based employee benefits platform enabling instant access to earned salaries and commissions. Led by Co-Founder & CEO Michael Trüschler, the platform aims to reduce employee financial stress and improve productivity, retention and sales. Employers can directly invest in their workforce via the service; the platform is accessible through web, mobile app and WhatsApp. The company said it will use new funds to accelerate planned technology developments and deliver new platform features for a growing corporate clientele. FlexxPay has offices in Europe and the GCC and is focusing growth efforts on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. FlexxPay is a Dubai-based social impact startup that provides a cloud-based financial-wellness platform enabling companies to offer salary advances on already-earned income. The service was co-founded by Michael Truschler and Charbel Nasr and launched in the UAE, expanding to KSA in Q4 2019. The platform acts as an agent with ADCB to advance a portion of already-earned salaries on behalf of employers. Employees can access earned but unpaid salary at zero interest for a fixed nominal transaction fee, perform bank transfers, and start a savings plan. Advances and fees are repaid by the employer during the salary cycle at month end, with employees receiving their salaries less advances and fees. FlexxPay raised an undisclosed funding round from a group of individual and corporate investors and intends to use the funds to roll out its platform; it plans to add gift cards and a loyalty points program.