Saudi FlexxPay Raises Fund to Expand Platform Across ME

FlexxPay, the fintech company with headquarters in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, has raised US$3 million in a pre-series A round of funding, the company announced on Sunday. The latest funding was backed by leading international and regional investors. In addition to March Holding, which has backed FlexxPay since its seed round, investors include JIMCO, Target Global, Wamda, DIFC FinTech Fund, Arzan VC, SuknaVentures, Nuwa Capital and VentureSouq. FlexxPay is a Shariah-compliant platform that employees or pensioners can use to access a portion of their future income in advance. It covers salaries, commissions, pensions and end-of-service benefits to allow users to plan their expenses.

The fintech firm initially raised US$1.5 million in its seed round, and similar to before, this new funding consists of a mix of equity and debt, bringing FlexxPay’s total investment to date to US$4.5 million. According to a statement, the company intends to use the funds to further enhance its technology platform and to grow its corporate client base in the region. Commenting on the latest investment, Michael Truschler, co-founder and CEO of FlexxPay, described the support shown by investors as “invaluable” to FlexxPay’s growth and evolution.

“We are solving a real-world problem for employers and their employees. Financial stress directly impacts the bottom line of a company’s P&L and is one of the main factors for employees being less productive and reporting sick. Giving people access to what they have already earned is just the right thing to do. They’ve earned it, they deserve it,” he said.

Truschler said that since the peak of the pandemic last spring, the platform has increased its monthly transactions sevenfold and expected an increase of more than tenfold in the next six months. “This is just the beginning of a significant expansion for us as people need solutions like FlexxPay more than ever.” He added that customers who used the service are 60% more likely to use it again, and the average usage is twice per month.

Saleh Al-Akrabi, CEO of DIFC Properties and head of investments, said: “DIFC FinTech Fund is committed to supporting innovative fintech start-ups in the region at different stages of their growth, and we participated in the follow-on investment round of FlexxPay to accelerate their growth plans for the region.”

The company currently operates in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with plans to launch in Bahrain next month and expand to the rest of Middle East in the near future. FlexxPay’s client list covers companies from industries including insurance, telecoms, retail, logistics, financial services and real estate.