Ziina Secures $22M in Funding as UAE-Based Fintech for Small Businesses Sees Explosive Growth

In June 2021, following its successful completion of YC’s first cohort and a $7.5 million seed round, Ziina launched its fintech app to 20,000 retail customers, enabling money transfers. Three years later, the Dubai-based startup, now serving 50,000 retail and business customers with expanded offerings for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses in the UAE, has secured $22 million in Series A funding led by Altos Ventures. This substantial follow-on funding highlights investor confidence amid a global funding slowdown, with Ziina reporting a 34% month-over-month growth in customers and a ten-fold increase in revenue over the past year.

Co-founder and CEO Faisal Toukan attributed Ziina’s appeal to three factors: the expanding SME segment in the UAE, a product-led growth approach, and a recently acquired central bank license. Originally a peer-to-peer payment app for splitting bills, Ziina evolved to serve both retail and business needs, offering features like payment links, a payment gateway integrated with platforms like WooCommerce and Shopify, point-of-sale solutions, and CRM functions for businesses.

Targeting the underserved market of 560,000 SMEs in the UAE, which represent over 94% of all companies and contribute around 60% of the country’s GDP, Ziina focuses on integrating consumer and business payments within a single ecosystem. The fintech addresses key pain points for SMEs, including accessibility, cost transparency, and user experience, with straightforward pricing and a dashboard for tracking payments.

Ziina’s growth has largely been driven by product-led strategies, with 55% of customers acquired organically and the remainder through B2B referrals. As it scales and expands its financial services following the banking license, the company is onboarding its first sales hires, including former Revolut employees.

Ziina claims to be the first venture-backed startup in the region with a stored value facility (SVF) license from the Central Bank of the UAE, enabling it to offer a broader range of financial solutions and benefit from customer asset float. With plans to launch new products such as the ZiiCard and compete against regional fintechs like Paymob and Tabby, Ziina aims to capture a significant share of the growing MENA payments sector. The Series A round, which also included Activant Capital, Avenir Growth, FinTech Collective, FJ Labs, Jabbar Internet Group, Middle East Venture Partners, and Y Combinator, brings Ziina’s total venture funding to over $30 million since its founding in 2020.