UAE-based fintech company Ziina has closed a $22 million Series A funding round, an investment spearheaded by Altos Ventures along with participation from several prominent investors including Fintech Collective, FJ Labs, Avenir Growth, Y Combinator, and Jabbar Internet Group.
Founded in 2022 primarily as a peer-to-peer (P2P) payments app for bill splitting among friends, Ziina has successfully transformed into a comprehensive payment gateway catering to small businesses. The company now serves 50,000 retail and business clients, boasting a dramatic tenfold increase in annual revenue and a robust 34% month-on-month growth in its customer base.
This latest influx of capital brings Ziina’s total venture funding to over $30 million. With this additional funding, the fintech startup plans to pursue its goal of becoming a complete end-to-end financial services provider. The first initiative under this strategy is the anticipated launch of the ZiiCard, aimed at simplifying supplier payments and enhancing expense management for businesses.
"We’re excited to be advancing to this next stage of our journey," said Faisal Toukan, CEO and co-founder of Ziina. "Ziina is positioned at the intersection of three key pillars: we see strong customer demand from the underserved SME sector, we’ve obtained the SVF license from the Central Bank of the UAE, and we have secured substantial funding from top-tier investors that we’re excited to be partnering with over the long term."
The ZiiCard is currently in its development phase, poised to offer features that will significantly benefit both individual and business users. For individuals, it will facilitate expense categorization and enable them to split payments on purchases, while for businesses, it will serve to control expenditures more effectively.
Acquiring a stored value facility (SVF) license from the Central Bank of the UAE represents a significant milestone for Ziina. This license allows the company to offer a broader range of financial products and to generate revenue from customer assets held on its platform.
Toukan emphasizes the implications of this development for the fintech landscape: "The intersection of these three pillars means that Ziina is uniquely positioned to lead the next evolution of fintech in the UAE and beyond. This funding will accelerate our journey from a payment platform to an end-to-end financial services provider, enhancing our offerings and expanding our reach across the Middle East."
In a rapidly growing fintech sector, Ziina's evolution from a simple P2P app to a comprehensive financial solutions provider underscores its adaptability to the needs of the market. The ongoing initiatives are reflective of a broader trend in the industry, where traditional methods are being supplanted by innovative financial technologies designed to serve the needs of both consumers and businesses.
As the fintech landscape in the UAE continues to flourish, Ziina is poised to play an integral role in shaping the future of financial services in the region. With its recent funding and strategic vision, the company aims to redefine the way digital payments and financial management are conducted, driving growth for itself and its consumer base alike.