Dubai, UAE — In a significant boost for the fintech sector in the UAE, Ziina has successfully raised $22 million in Series A funding. This milestone underscores the startup’s impressive growth and its expanding role in serving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the region. The funding round, led by Altos Ventures, highlights investor confidence in Ziina’s trajectory despite a global funding slowdown.
Expanding Reach and Services
Launched in June 2021 after its initial seed round, Ziina began as a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment app designed to facilitate simple transactions like splitting bills. Fast forward to today, and Ziina has grown its user base to 50,000, including both retail and business customers. The startup has evolved significantly, expanding its offerings to cater specifically to SMEs in the UAE, a market that consists of over 560,000 businesses.
Ziina’s evolution includes the introduction of two main segments: Ziina Personal for everyday P2P transactions and Ziina Business for more robust payment solutions. The latter provides a suite of tools including payment links, a payment gateway integrated with e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce and Shopify, and point-of-sale (POS) solutions that use QR codes.
Key Factors Driving Growth
Faisal Toukan, Co-founder and CEO of Ziina, attributes the startup’s rapid growth to three main factors:
- Expanding SME Segment: The fintech’s focus on SMEs, which form over 94% of all companies in the UAE and contribute around 60% of the country’s GDP, has positioned it as a crucial player in this underserved market.
- Product-Led Growth: Ziina’s product strategy emphasizes addressing key pain points for SMEs, including accessibility, cost transparency, and user experience. The platform enables SMEs to set up payment processing quickly and offers clear pricing without hidden fees.
- Central Bank License: Ziina recently obtained a central bank license, allowing it to offer more comprehensive financial services and leverage revenue from user assets on the platform.
Navigating the Competitive Landscape
Despite strong competition from other regional fintechs like Paymob, Tabby, and Telda, Ziina differentiates itself through its integrated financial ecosystem. The startup is also preparing to launch new products, such as ZiiCard for expense management, further expanding its service offerings.
Ziina’s rapid growth is evident from its impressive transaction volumes. The platform now processes about 1,050 dirhams ($280) every 60 seconds, aiming to handle 1.1 billion dirhams (~$300 million) annually. Notably, 55% of its customers have come through organic growth, with the rest acquired via B2B referrals.
With the new Series A funding, Ziina plans to scale further and enhance its product offerings. The company aims to onboard its first sales hires, including experienced professionals from Revolut, to support its growth trajectory.
Toukan is optimistic about the future, drawing comparisons to successful fintech models like Nubank in Brazil. He envisions Ziina becoming a leading player in the MENA region’s fintech landscape, with goals to reach 200,000 monthly active businesses in the next four years.
The Series A round also saw participation from Activant Capital, Avenir Growth, Fintech Collective, FJ Labs, Jabbar Internet Group, Middle East Venture Partners, and Y Combinator. This latest round brings Ziina’s total venture capital raised to over $30 million since its inception in 2020.
As Ziina continues to evolve and expand, its success highlights the growing dynamism of the fintech sector in the UAE, positioning itself as a key player in the regional and global financial technology landscape.