A new start-up is aiming to solve the most painful administrative concern that companies in the region face: the management of employee expenses.
Founded in 2021 by entrepreneurs Armin Moradi and Jonathan Lau, Qashio issues charge cards to companies, which are linked to the FinTech's software that automates the management of a company's expenses.
The start-up can issue virtual or physical Qashio cards to employees with limits on spending, frequency of usage and vendors. This allows companies to better control their finances, while reducing costs and saving man-hours.
Transactions made using Qashio’s cards are automatically captured by its software and synced to the company’s accounting system, cutting down the time companies spend on reconciling expenses and receipts, while giving their management a real-time picture on spending.
“The idea to start Qashio came to me a while back,” says Mr Moradi, who is also the chief executive of the FinTech. “I was selling and implementing ERP [enterprise resource planning] solutions and felt there was a gap in the ability of being proactive in controlling expenses and leakages.”
The Middle East's FinTech sector has been growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 30 per cent. By the end of this year, more than 800 FinTech companies operating in segments, including payments, InsureTech and cyber security, are expected to raise more than $2 billion in venture capital funding, estimates by the Middle East Institute suggest.
The global FinTech market is expected to reach $334bn by 2026, growing at a compound annual rate of more than 25 per cent between 2022 and 2027, according to research consultancy Market Data Forecast.
But it faces challenges. For one, as FinTechs broaden consumers’ access to financial services, reduce costs and increase efficiency, their rapid growth in “systemic importance” is also creating regulatory challenges, the International Monetary Fund said last month.
The biggest challenge Qashio faces is to navigate the regulatory landscape since it is a new product, Mr Moradi says. “But we see the development from the regulators, the partnerships with the banks are accelerating very fast. The willingness to support our business model is growing by the day because it’s clear that what we are doing adds value.”
“In Saudi Arabia, that becomes even more prominent with the vision that they have to go cashless before 2030. And what we are doing is for businesses to be cashless and utilise the cards that are issued on the Qashio platform to execute what you today need petty cash for — just as an example,” Mr Moradi says.
The Covid-19 pandemic has also shown businesses the need to improve their financial operations and modernise old status quo practices, says Mr Moradi, who has been working with FinTechs for almost 15 years.
“The companies we are approaching have been very receptive to Qashio’s solutions as an extremely effective and quick way to start or improve their transformational journeys,” he says.
Qashio already has nearly 100 customers in the UAE. These include Grubtech, Diamond Developers, Carasti, Udrive, and more traditional companies like Modern Vet and Gourmet Gulf. The company also has a few customers in Saudi Arabia but expects to gain more after it goes live there in the fourth quarter, he says.
“Qashio currently operates only in the UAE. Saudi Arabia and Egypt are next on our radar by the end of this year. Further down the line, the company is looking at the rest of GCC, Pakistan and, potentially Jordan, in 2023,” says the 38-year-old Swedish national.
Qashio does not face much competition in the Middle East — a region that Mr Moradi says is fairly untapped — but several global companies, such as the US-based Brex and Ramp, operate similar models.
Many of these FinTechs focused on small and medium enterprises and start-ups because the sector was struggling with several issues in that part of the world, the founder says, noting they are also working with bigger companies now as they face the same problems but on a different scale.
“In the Middle East, you’d find enterprises that struggle with the same challenges — of fragmented operations — probably because of a high turnover of staff or they struggle to start and complete a process as it’s quite complex to set up,” Mr Moradi says.
“We focus more on the mid-size companies — 100 to 1,000 employees. We believe that to be our sweet spot.
“But the way we have designed our solution is such that we have different versions so we can cater to smaller companies as well, with four to five employees up to a 100 employees,” he says, noting the pricing is adjusted for the size of the company.
Qashio’s target market includes a lot of smaller global companies that operate their financials locally, according to Mr Moradi. They are also looking to tap into real estate companies, he adds.
In February, Qashio raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding that was led by global VC firm MSA Novo and supported by Rally Cap Ventures, Palm Drive Capital, Plug and Play Ventures, as well as regional strategic angels, entrepreneurs and family offices. Executives from Grubtech, Danske Bank, Two Sigma, Xiaomi and top global FinTech companies participated in the round as well, the company said.
The funding will be used to expand the operations team and customer support, evolve the current features and integrations with additional FinTech partners and rewards programmes.
“We currently are not in a need to raise [more] funds but that will quickly change for sure. As we will need to go into other markets, we will need to raise more money to be able to fund our growth,” Mr Moradi says.
Q&A with Armin Moradi, chief executive and co-founder of Qashio
Where do you see the company five years from now?
We believe we will see massive growth and we aim to expand to all of Mena, with a wide portfolio of solutions and features that help with the digital transformation of financial operations for businesses of all sizes.
What’s your biggest learning from launching Qashio?
There is a lot of work to get done. Bring the right people on at the start to help with execution and utilise your network. People are generally very helpful if they believe in what you’re building.
If you had to start over, what would you change?
Focus more on executing rather than planning for perfection.
What advice would you give upcoming entrepreneurs?
Be disciplined and execute systematically and pragmatically. Be prepared to overcome obstacles, and always be humble. Learn from other’s mistakes as this, often, is a shortcut that helps you save a lot of time. Don’t get distracted about everything else that’s going on around, you can’t do everything and be everywhere at once. Set goals and objectives and make sure they get done by hook or by crook.
What skills have you learnt from setting up your business?
Discipline, and perseverance to start with, but also ensure your team you hire early on not only believe in your vision but will also contribute to make it better.
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Qashio
Based: Dubai, UAE
Launch year: 2021
Number of employees: 15
Sector: FinTech
Amount raised: $2.5 million
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
BMW M8 Competition Coupe
Engine 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8
Power 625hp at 6,000rpm
Torque 750Nm from 1,800-5,800rpm
Gearbox Eight-speed paddleshift auto
Acceleration 0-100kph in 3.2 sec
Top speed 305kph
Fuel economy, combined 10.6L / 100km
Price from Dh700,000 (estimate)
On sale Jan/Feb 2020
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Sanju
Produced: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Anushka Sharma, Manish’s Koirala, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Boman Irani
Rating: 3.5 stars
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
'Of Love & War'
Lynsey Addario, Penguin Press
Ahmed Raza
UAE cricket captain
Age: 31
Born: Sharjah
Role: Left-arm spinner
One-day internationals: 31 matches, 35 wickets, average 31.4, economy rate 3.95
T20 internationals: 41 matches, 29 wickets, average 30.3, economy rate 6.28
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
Copa del Rey
Semi-final, first leg
Barcelona 1 (Malcom 57')
Real Madrid (Vazquez 6')
Second leg, February 27
The Cairo Statement
1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations
2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred
3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC
4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.
5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.
6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
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
Squad: Majed Naser, Abdulaziz Sanqour, Walid Abbas, Khamis Esmail, Habib Fardan, Mohammed Marzouq (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai), Khalid Essa, Muhanad Salem, Mohammed Ahmed, Ismail Ahmed, Ahmed Barman, Amer Abdulrahman, Omar Abdulrahman (Al Ain), Ali Khaseif, Fares Juma, Mohammed Fawzi, Khalfan Mubarak, Mohammed Jamal, Ahmed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Ahmed Rashid, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Wahda), Tariq Ahmed, Mahmoud Khamis, Khalifa Mubarak, Jassim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Yousef Saeed (Sharjah), Suhail Al Nubi (Baniyas)
THE POPE'S ITINERARY
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
Company Profile
Founders: Tamara Hachem and Yazid Erman
Based: Dubai
Launched: September 2019
Sector: health technology
Stage: seed
Investors: Oman Technology Fund, angel investor and grants from Sharjah's Sheraa and Ma'an Abu Dhabi
The Lost Letters of William Woolf
Helen Cullen, Graydon House
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: now
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Tuesday (UAE kick-off times)
Leicester City v Brighton (9pm)
Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United (11.15pm)
Wednesday
Manchester United v Sheffield United (9pm)
Newcastle United v Aston Villa (9pm)
Norwich City v Everton (9pm)
Wolves v Bournemouth (9pm)
Liverpool v Crystal Palace (11.15pm)
Thursday
Burnley v Watford (9pm)
Southampton v Arsenal (9pm)
Chelsea v Manchester City (11.15pm)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Power: 300hp
Torque: 420Nm
Price: Dh189,900
On sale: now
Mane points for safe home colouring
- Natural and grey hair takes colour differently than chemically treated hair
- Taking hair from a dark to a light colour should involve a slow transition through warmer stages of colour
- When choosing a colour (especially a lighter tone), allow for a natural lift of warmth
- Most modern hair colours are technique-based, in that they require a confident hand and taught skills
- If you decide to be brave and go for it, seek professional advice and use a semi-permanent colour
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Hales' batting career
Tests 11; Runs 573; 100s 0; 50s 5; Avg 27.38; Best 94
ODIs 58; Runs 1,957; 100s 5; 50s 11; Avg 36.24; Best 171
T20s 52; Runs 1,456; 100s 1; 50s 7; Avg 31.65; Best 116 not out
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