Saudi fintech platform Hakbah secures $5.1 million funding for expansion

Riyadh: Saudi-based fintech savings platform Hakbah announced its $5.1 million Series A fundraising on Wednesday. Led by VentureSouq – the MENA-based venture capital firm – Hakbah investments from new investors M-Capital and Bunat Ventures and existing investors Global Ventures and Aditum Investment Management Ltd.


Hakbah, a fast-growing MENA start-up, operates in KSA’s $216 billion savings market. Series A financing refers to an investment in a privately held start-up company after it has developed its business model.


The company said it had recorded an 18x increase in total savings under management and a 4x increase in revenue this year, struck several blue-chip partnerships with the likes of flynas, the national low-cost airline in Saudi Arabia, has a customer base of over 500,000 users (of which 70 per cent are between 21-35 years old).


Proceeds of the Series A funding round will be used for further product development, with a strong focus on Machine Learning and further developing the company’s integrable savings engine, said the company. 
The capital will also be allocated to attract and nurture the region’s best talent.

The company also anticipates entering two regional markets shortly via partnerships.
Naif AbuSaida, Founder of Hakbah, said, “We’re working to build a savings platform via which individuals can save easily, quickly, collectively, and with impact – on our mission to double the individuals’ savings ratio in Saudi Arabia by 2025.” 


He added, “With the sizeable Savings Groups and Household Savings markets, and 60 per cent of the population under 30, there is a significant opportunity for efficient, digital solutions to transform Saudi Arabia’s savings habits.
Savings are a key strategic objective in ‘Saudi Vision 2030’ and critical to the country’s Financial Sector Development Program as 70 per cent of Saudi citizens are without emergency savings, while the country’s household savings rate averages just 1.6 per cent, according to recent surveys. 


Musaab Hakami, General Partner – Fintech of VentureSouq, said, “Hakbah has a truly innovative product, a compelling market, and a track record of delivering on its growth promises. We look forward to supporting the company’s continued scaling.”