The past year has
been eventful in the Middle East’s financial services sector. Last year, we saw
the Saudi British Bank merge with Al Awwal Bank to create Saudi Arabia’s third
largest lender. This came after Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank’s tie-up with Union National
Bank and the subsequent takeover of Al Hilal bank as its Sharia-compliant arm
in the U.A.E. The Islamic banking sector has also seen the merger of the
region’s largest Islamic bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, with Noor Bank, a
U.A.E.-based Sharia-compliant lender.
These mergers have reduced competition in an
oversaturated banking market and in the long run will improve the profitability
of the banking system. Dubai-based investment bank, Shuaa Capital, has also
agreed to merge with its largest shareholder, Abu Dhabi Financial Group, to
create a $12 billion asset under management firm.
And the region’s payment’s sector
saw two large IPOs: one from Finablr, which owns the U.A.E Exchange brand, and
one by payments solution giant, Network International. Both are listed on the
London Stock Exchange.
This year we have
collated two lists to mark this changing landscape: the Fintech 20 which is a
collection of the most promising financial technology startups in the region.
Only fintech startups
that were founded during or after 2012 were included, and we ranked them
according to:
·
Funds raised from
external investors
·
Scalability of the
business
|
Name
|
Description
|
Founder
|
Funding
|
Country
|
|
PayTabs
|
Online Payment Processing Solutions
|
Abdulaziz Al Jouf
|
$26 M
|
Saudi Arabia
|
|
Bayzat
|
Online Health Insurance And HR Solutions
Provider
|
Talal Bayaa And Brian Habibi
|
$25 M
|
UAE
|
|
Aqeed
|
Insurance Solutions Platform
|
Hadi Radwan
|
$18 M
|
UAE
|
|
Beehive
|
SME Focused Peer2peer Lending Platform
|
Craig Moore
|
$15.5 M
|
UAE
|
|
Souqalmal.Com
|
Financial Products Comparison Site
|
Ambareen Musa
|
$15 M
|
UAE
|
|
Eureeca
|
Crowdfunding Platform
|
Sam Quawasmi And Chris Thomas
|
$12.3 M
|
UAE
|
|
Liwwa
|
Peer-To-Peer Lending Platform
|
Ahmed Moor And Samer Atiani
|
$8.55 M
|
Jordan
|
|
Expensya
|
Cloud Based Multi-Platform Expense Management
Software
|
Ahmed Moor And Samer Atiani
|
$5.7 M
|
Tunisia/ France
|
|
NymCard
|
Payment Solutions
|
Omar Onsi And Ayman Chalhoub
|
$4 M
|
Lebanon
|
|
POSRocket
|
IPad-Based Point-Of-Sale Solutions
|
Zeid Husban
|
$2.36 M
|
Jordan
|
|
Sarwa
|
Robo Wealth Advisor
|
Mark Chahwan- Jad Sayegh And Nadine Mezher
|
$1.5 M
|
UAE
|
|
Risk+ Solutions
|
Financial Intelligence And Risk Management
Solutions
|
Jad G. Doumith And Chadi El Nawar
|
$1.45 M
|
Lebanon
|
|
Zbooni
|
Connected Chat Commerce App
|
Ramy Assaf- Mohamed Hamedi- Ashraf Atia
|
$1.4 M
|
UAE
|
|
Democrance
|
Insurance Marketplace For The Underserved
|
Michele Grosso Alberto Perez And Damian
Dimmich
|
$1.3 M
|
UAE
|
|
Vapulus
|
E-Payment Gateway
|
Abdelrahman El Shaarawy- Islam Mousa- Khalid Gabr
|
$1.065 M
|
Egypt
|
|
Monami Tech
|
Financial Services
|
Ammar Afif
|
$1 M
|
UAE
|
|
Moneyfellows
|
Crowd Funding From Social Networks
|
Ahmed Wadi
|
$980 K
|
Egypt
|
|
PointCheckout
|
Payment Gateway For Loyalty Points
|
Bashar Saleh And Tarek Ghobar
|
$600 K
|
UAE
|
|
Payment Solutions
Platform
|
Omar Bin Brek- Mohan
Karuppiah
|
$500 K
|
UAE
|
|
|
Paymob
|
Digital Financial Enabler
|
Islam Shawky- Alain El-Hajj- Mostafa Menessy
|
Confidential
|
Egypt
|
