Riyadh-headquartered fintech Erad has raised $16 million (SAR 60 million) in a Pre-Series A funding round to accelerate its growth and expand operations in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, it announced today. The investment was backed by a mix of global and regional investors including Y Combinator, Nuwa Capital, Khwarizmi Ventures, Aljazira Capital, VentureSouq, Oraseya Capital, and Joa Capital.
It’s unclear whether the round included any debt, we’ve reached out to Erad’s team and will update the story if we hear back. The Saudi startup previously raised $2.4 million in a pre-seed round in 2022 from Nuwa Capital, VentureSouq, and Khwarizmi Ventures.
Founded in 2022 by Salem Abu-Hammour, Faris Yaghmour, Abdulmalik Almeheini, and Youssef Said, Erad provides revenue-based and fixed-term financing solutions to SMEs through its data-driven platform. The startup promises financing decisions within 48 hours, with funding amounts ranging from $40,000 to $2.7 million (AED 150,000 to AED 10 million), targeting businesses in retail, F&B, e-commerce, healthcare, and other sectors.
According to its website, Erad serves businesses operating in the UAE or Saudi Arabia with at least six months of operational history and monthly revenues of around $41,000.
The platform uses proprietary data models to assess business performance by securely connecting to sales, marketing, accounting, and banking tools that SMEs already use. It claims to have deployed over $26.6 million (SAR 100 million) in funding to hundreds of businesses across Saudi Arabia and the UAE since its launch.
Salem Abu-Hammour, co-founder of Erad, in a statement, said, “While SMEs continue to power the GCC economy, entrepreneurs in retail, F&B, healthcare, and beyond struggle to secure the capital they need to scale up. Over 60% of our customers are first-time credit takers and we are proud to be partners in their growth while fostering financial inclusion.”
The financing platform serves businesses that have been operational for at least six months and generate monthly revenue of $40,000 (AED 150,000) or more. Its customers include well-recognized regional businesses like Citron, Wixsana, House of Pops, Joi Gifts, eZhire, Udrive, and Makan, among others.
The platform’s Shariah-compliant financing adheres to principles of Tawaruq, offering both revenue-based financing (where businesses repay a small percentage of their revenue) and fixed-term financing (with fixed monthly installments).
With this new investment, Erad plans to deepen its market presence in Saudi Arabia, focusing on expanding its local team and enhancing its product offerings. The funding round and expansion come at a time when the platform has recorded over $532 million (SAR 2 billion) in funding requests, highlighting the significant demand for alternative SME financing in the region.
Flow48, another notable player in the space led by Fetchr founder Idriss Al Rifai, raised $69 million in a Series A round comprising both debt and equity in February.
- Saudi’s Orbii raises $3.6 million in Prosus-led seed to help banks and fintechs launch SME lending - September 8, 2025
- Egypt’s TradeHub shuts down, returns remaining capital to investors after failing to achieve product-market fit - September 7, 2025
- Dubai’s WheelsOn raises $12.5 million in debt and equity for its deposit-free car rental platform - September 7, 2025
