Ziina, a Dubai-based fintech startup specialised in payment solutions, has raised $22 million in a Series A funding round led by Silicon Valley-based early-stage investor Altos Ventures.
The round was participated by investors including Activant Capital, Avenir Growth, FinTech Collective, FJ Labs, Jabbar Internet Group, Middle East Venture Partners and Y Combinator. The company has raised over $30 million since its inception in 2020.
Ziina was founded by Faisal Toukan, Sarah Toukan and Andrew Gold, who saw an opportunity to address the daily financial challenges of individuals and businesses in the UAE.
Ziina initially offered peer-to-peer (P2P) payment services for retail customers (Ziina Personal), then expanded to cater to SMEs with Ziina Business.
“Over the years, users have told us they need a financial partner who makes managing money easier and helps them grow. With this funding raise, we’re now equipped to expand our services, offering more powerful tools that cater to the diverse needs of our community at every step of their journey,” said Faisal Toukan, CEO, in a LinkedIn’s post.
The company has increased its customer base from 20,000 to 50,000 retail and business users in three years, claiming a 34% month-to-month growth over the years and a tenfold increase in revenue during the same period.
“We look at the general experience as consumers can pay businesses, businesses can pay consumers, and then build that network effect across the customer segments. And that is one of the key differentiators we have in our product strategy and business,” added Toukan.
The startup targets an underserved market of 560,000 SMEs in the UAE, which are over 94% of all companies and contribute about 60% of the country’s GDP. As of 2023, there are about 77% of SMEs in the country that have adopted digital payments, fueling the growing demand for financial management tools.
With the newly obtained stored value facility (SVF) licence from the UAE Central Bank, Ziina plans to offer additional financial services, including a card product called Ziicard for expense management.
Toukan has set ambitious goals to have 200,000 monthly active businesses on the platform within four years and become the “Nubank of the region”.
“…and if you look at players like Nubank in Brazil, they hit those targets of between 10% and 20% market penetration. So we intend to do that and be the Nubank of the region,” he concluded, referencing the successful Brazilian fintech startup.
In the UAE, Ziina faces competition with Paymob, which provides POS terminals; Tabby that offers financial products outside buy now, pay later (BNPL); Telda, offers P2P payments; and Mamo, offers spend management business.
