SimpliFi, a Dubai-based financial technology start-up, secured $5.1 million in new funding that it plans to use to expand across the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan region.
The cards-as-a-service platform, which also has an office in Riyadh, raised the investment from Saudi-based Raed Ventures and US-based Global Founders Capital, 4DX Ventures and Rally Cap Ventures. Raed and Rally Cap had participated in a seed round earlier this year, which raised an undisclosed amount.
The start-up manages all ecosystem partners required to issue cards including banks, card schemes, processors, identity verification, card fulfilment and customer care to deliver a seamless experience across several markets.
“We were overwhelmed yet humbled by the response we got after we launched in August. It was only then that we realised that the opportunity was substantially bigger than what we had originally anticipated, which emboldened us to double down and accelerate our expansion across the region,” Ali Sattar, founder and chief executive of SimpliFi, said on Monday.
Start-ups in the region continue to attract investments, with the fourth quarter of 2021 particularly busy, especially for transactions involving the UAE sphere.
Last week, Abu Dhabi Global Market and the World Bank's International Finance Corporation launched a programme to support women-led Mena start-ups, while Indian cloud services provider G7CR Technologies announced plans to invest up to $30m to support MEA and India start-ups.
Accelerator programmes are also expanding their reach. Earlier this month, Aldar, the UAE's biggest listed property company, launched the second cycle of its Scale Up accelerator programme, while technology company Google is currently underway with the third edition of its initiative to help budding companies speed up their development.
Mena start-ups received $1.2bn in funding during the first half of 2021, surpassing the amount raised in the whole of 2020, data platform Magnitt reported earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the global payments industry is set to return to its long-term growth trajectory after posting its first contraction in 11 years in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic, said management consultancy McKinsey & Company's annual sector report.
The sector's revenue fell 5 per cent on the year to $1.9 trillion in 2020, but those losses will be recouped this year, bringing revenue back into the range of 2019's record high, it added.
SimpliFi launched its beta version in August and said it received strong interest from regional organisations that want to issue cards to fulfil business needs and offer card products to small and medium enterprises and consumers. This resulted in the signing of a number of partnerships with banks, processors and other providers.
The company's team is backed by people with experience from ride-hailing services Careem, Grab, Gojek and Uber, payments companies PayPal, Marqeta, Mastercard and Network International, and Facebook.
We realised that the opportunity was substantially bigger than what we had originally anticipated, which emboldened us to double down and accelerate our expansion across the region
Ali Sattar,
founder and chief executive of SimpliFi
“We see growing demand for card issuance in the region and are excited to continue to back SimpliFi as it expands its presence across the region,” said Wael Nafee, partner at Raed Ventures.
SimpliFi was founded in 2020 by Mr Sattar, who is the former head of Careem Pay. He had previously said that the company wants to remove the underlying complexities and hassles of card issuance.
In addition to providing a purpose-built tech stack, SimpliFi manages day-to-day card operations and compliance functions so businesses can focus on their core strengths while leveraging the capabilities and scale of SimpliFi.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Second Test
In Dubai
Pakistan 418-5 (declared)
New Zealand 90 and 131-2 (follow on)
Day 3: New Zealand trail by 197 runs with 8 wickets remaining
Match statistics
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 36 Bahrain 32
Harlequins
Tries: Penalty 2, Stevenson, Teasdale, Semple
Cons: Stevenson 2
Pens: Stevenson
Bahrain
Tries: Wallace 2, Heath, Evans, Behan
Cons: Radley 2
Pen: Radley
Man of the match: Craig Nutt (Harlequins)
The specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
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Range: 456km
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Understand What Black Is
The Last Poets
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FIGHT CARD
From 5.30pm in the following order:
Featherweight
Marcelo Pontes (BRA) v Azouz Anwar (EGY)
Catchweight 90kg
Moustafa Rashid Nada (KSA) v Imad Al Howayeck (LEB)
Welterweight
Mohammed Al Khatib (JOR) v Gimbat Ismailov (RUS)
Flyweight (women)
Lucie Bertaud (FRA) v Kelig Pinson (BEL)
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (BEL) v Regelo Enumerables Jr (PHI)
Catchweight 100kg
Mohamed Ali (EGY) v Marc Vleiger (NED)
Featherweight
James Bishop (AUS) v Mark Valerio (PHI)
Welterweight
Gerson Carvalho (BRA) v Abdelghani Saber (EGY)
Middleweight
Bakhtiyar Abbasov (AZE) v Igor Litoshik (BLR)
Bantamweight:
Fabio Mello (BRA) v Mark Alcoba (PHI)
Welterweight
Ahmed Labban (LEB) v Magomedsultan Magemedsultanov (RUS)
Bantamweight
Trent Girdham (AUS) v Jayson Margallo (PHI)
Lightweight
Usman Nurmagomedov (RUS) v Roman Golovinov (UKR)
Middleweight
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Steve Kennedy (AUS)
Lightweight
Dan Moret (USA) v Anton Kuivanen (FIN)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
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Specs
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Leaderboard
63 - Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)
64 - Rory McIlroy (NIR)
66 - Jon Rahm (ESP)
67 - Tom Lewis (ENG), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)
68 - Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Marcus Kinhult (SWE)
69 - Justin Rose (ENG), Thomas Detry (BEL), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Danny Willett (ENG), Li Haotong (CHN), Matthias Schwab (AUT)
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Brief scores:
Toss: Nepal, chose to field
UAE 153-6: Shaiman (59), Usman (30); Regmi 2-23
Nepal 132-7: Jora 53 not out; Zahoor 2-17
Result: UAE won by 21 runs
Series: UAE lead 1-0
About Seez
Company name/date started: Seez, set up in September 2015 and the app was released in August 2017
Founder/CEO name(s): Tarek Kabrit, co-founder and chief executive, and Andrew Kabrit, co-founder and chief operating officer
Based in: Dubai, with operations also in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon
Sector: Search engine for car buying, selling and leasing
Size: (employees/revenue): 11; undisclosed
Stage of funding: $1.8 million in seed funding; followed by another $1.5m bridge round - in the process of closing Series A
Investors: Wamda Capital, B&Y and Phoenician Funds
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich 1
Kimmich (27')
Real Madrid 2
Marcelo (43'), Asensio (56')
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
