Dubai-based fintech startup Ziina has secured $22 million in Series A funding, as it continues to expand its offerings in the UAE’s fast-growing fintech sector.
The Series A round, which takes the startup’s total funding above $30 million, was led by Altos Ventures, trusting Ziina’s business model and ability to scale, especially in a global funding slowdown.
Other investors included Activant Capital, Avenir Growth, Fintech Collective, FJ Labs, Jabbar Internet Group, Middle East Venture Partners, and Y Combinator.
Since its inception in 2020, Ziina has evolved from a peer-to-peer payment app into a comprehensive financial platform focused on the needs of both individuals and businesses.
Initially gaining traction with its consumer-focused app, the startup has now grown its user base to 50,000 active customers, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
This growth has been largely driven by the company’s focus on addressing the unique financial needs of SMEs in the UAE, a segment that accounts for over 94% of all companies in the country and contributes approximately 60% to the nation’s GDP.
Ziina’s latest funding round follows its move towards serving the SME market. The company’s platform, which now includes payment gateways, point-of-sale solutions, and integrations with major e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce and Shopify, has enabled businesses to simplify their payment processes and track financial transactions more efficiently.
With SMEs in the UAE increasingly adopting digital payments — 77% as of 2023 — Ziina is capitalising on this trend.
The company’s CEO, Faisal Toukan, spoke on the factors that made Ziina attractive to investors. These include the strong growth of the SME sector in the UAE, the company’s product-led expansion strategy, and its recently acquired central bank license.
This license, a stored value facility (SVF) permit from the Central Bank of the UAE, allows Ziina to offer a wider range of financial services, excluding lending, and to generate revenue from customer deposits on the platform.
Ziina’s product development has been driven by the need to simplify financial management for businesses. The platform offers transparency in pricing, with no hidden fees and straightforward transaction costs.
Again, the user-friendly dashboard allows businesses to easily monitor and reconcile payments, both online and offline.
The startup’s innovative approach has led to rapid adoption, with Ziina processing approximately 1,050 dirhams every 60 seconds and projected to handle 1.1 billion dirhams in annualised transaction volume by the end of the year.
Ziina plans to continue scaling its operations and expanding its product offerings. The company is on track to introduce ZiiCard, an expense management tool, further enhancing its appeal to SMEs.
With the growth of the fintech industry in the Middle East, Ziina aims to reach 200,000 active business users within the next four years.
