Marhaba, fintech friends!

Maria here. Welcome to the very first edition of TWIF MENA.

I've spent the last five years writing about venture capital and startups in the MENA region. If there's one corner of the ecosystem that is never short of headlines, it's fintech.

From Cairo to Casablanca, Riyadh to Rabat, founders, funders and regulators are rethinking financial services in a region where the opportunity is largely untapped with 52% of the population un- or under-banked and where fintech revenues are projected to triple from $1 billion to $4.5 billion this year.

Every Thursday, I’ll be landing in your inbox with a roundup of all things fintech across MENA:

💸 Fundraises and exits

🚀 Product launches and partnerships

🏛 Regulations and licensing

💰 Funder updates

💡 The week’s must-read / must-listen / must-watch

👀 And the occasional MENA Fun Fact

I'm excited to chronicle the dynamic universe of MENA fintech and share its happenings with all of you, one Thursday at a time.

Let's get right to it.

💸 Fundraises and Exits

 🇸🇦 Erad, Saudi-based fintech, raises $16 million in pre-series A funding to expand its operations in the UAE and Saudi Arabia

🇦🇪 Fuze, UAE-based digital assets infrastructure provider, raises $12.2 million in a series A round led by Galaxy and e& capital

🇺🇸 🇰🇼 US-based fintech Mercury closes a $300 million series B round led by Sequoia Capital, a16z and other investors. Kuwait's Kamco Invest joined the round, doubling down on an earlier investment in the company that has already realized a 1.3x return

🇲🇾🇦🇪 Malaysia's lending platform, Credilab, raises a strategic investment of $1 million from the UAE's Triple Helix Capital

🇪🇬 MoneyFellows, Egypt-based ROSCA platform, raises $13 million in a pre-series C round

🇸🇦 NQOODLET, Saudi expense management platform, raises $3 million in seed funding

🇹🇳 Tunisia's Konnect Networks raises an undisclosed amount from Attijariwafa Ventures, Utopia Capital Management, 54 Collective, Visa, Plug and Play Tech Center, Renew Capital, Digital Africa Ventures and Sunny Side Venture Partners

🇪🇬 As part of its $16 million pre-series B round, Egypt's Khazna raises funding from Tibas Ventures, VC arm of Turkey's Isbank

💰 Funds

ZIGLabs, Disrupt.com and DWF Labs launch a $25 million fund to invest in decentralized finance and artificial intelligence start-ups with a focus on advancing financial services, decentralized asset management and digital wealth strategies

Saudi's STV announces the final close of its $100 million NICE Fund I with backing from SAB Invest, family offices and support from the National Technology Development Program.

🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches

South Africa-HQ eCommerce enablement platform, BoxCommerce, expands to the UAE in partnership with MasterCard's Start Path Partner program

Alfardan Exchange partners with iPiD to launch Qatar's first real-time payee verification service

Jazeera Airways partners with HTS to introduce first of their kind fintech-powered travel products in the Middle East

Paytm, India-based payment solution, expands to MENA with the establishment of Paytm Arab Payments LLC in the UAE, with a capital injection of $2.1 million

PayPal partners with TerraPay to enable real-time funds transfers across MENA

International Smart Card and MENA Fintech Association forge a strategic partnership to shape the future of digital finance in the region

ADIO partners with wealthtech platform Alpheya to drive innovation in financial services and within the wealth management sector in Abu Dhabi.

🏛 Licensing & Regulations

Dubai's Virtual Assets Service Provider (VASP) grants BitGo, US-based infrastructure provider of digital assets solutions, an operating license to offer Virtual Asset Custody Services and Staking through its local subsidiary

Abu Dhabi's Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) grants Circle Internet Group, US fintech and stablecoin company, In-Principle Approval to operate as a money services provider

Saudi's Central Bank grants Nayla Finance a license to engage in micro-finance activities

Egypt's Financial Regulatory Authority grants Klivvr final approval to launch its BNPL product

UAE to launch regulated Dirham-backed stablecoin

The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation is granted a regional headquarters license by Saudi's Ministry of Investments

Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority grants DKK Digital full regulatory approval to operate as a licensed Virtual Asset Service Provider in the emirate, including fiat on/off ramp infrastructure and liquidity provision for stablecoins such as the Electronic Dirham, USD Tether, USD Coin and Ripple USD.

📰 News of the Week

Last week, Pay10 became the first fintech to go live on the UAE Central Bank's Open Finance Framework

What does this mean? Why does it matter? Enterprise explains.

📑 Stat(s) of the week

In Q1 2025, MENA fintech startups raised over $1 billion across 36 deals, representing more than two-thirds of all startup funding in the region and marking a 244% increase in total startup funding compared to Q1 2024.

Thank you for tuning in!

If you have feedback on this edition of This Week in Fintech MENA, please reach out on LinkedIn.

Until next week,

Salam ✌🏼