• UAE-based fintech Kamel Pay, has raised $1 million in a pre-Seed round, led by Hussain Al Qemzi, former group CEO of Noor Bank and Sharjah Islamic Bank and Asif Keshodia, former regional finance director at Amazon Mena.
• Founded in 2020 by Ehsan Rahman, Kamel Pay offers end-to-end digital payment services to the 20 million underbanked expat population in GCC and to their families abroad through a fully integrated platform. 
• The app caters primarily to users in the Middle East and South Asian markets.

Press release 

UAE-based FinTech and digital financial solutions provider Kamel Pay has successfully raised $1M in its latest funding round. The Pre-Seed financing was backed by key strategic angel investors including regional angel investors Hussain Al Qemzi, Former Group CEO of Noor Bank & Sharjah Islamic Bank and  Asif Keshodia, former CFO of Souq.com/Amazon MENA. 

Founded in 2020 with the strategic aim of empowering businesses and individuals with digital access to a full suite of financial services in MENA and South Asian markets, Kamel Pay recently launched an innovative payments value proposition for businesses and individuals in the UAE. The company aims to become the first fintech in the region to provide end-to-end digital payment services to the underbanked ex-pat population in GCC and to their families abroad through a fully integrated platform. Through the bespoke services provided by Kamel Pay, the GCC-based workers will connect with their families and cater to their everyday financial needs. 

Kamel Pay has already gained strong traction in the UAE market following its recent launch, especially among companies with large workforce such as contracting, logistics & domestic services, and will tap into the cross-border wallet market by expanding into other GCC markets along with other South Asian markets. Angel investor Hussain Al Qemzi highlighted, “Kamel Pay is focused on providing access to today’s essential financial services to the underbanked workers across the GCC and enhancing the lives of their families at the same time. I am pleased with the rapid traction they have gained and confident in the team’s ability to execute the strategic plans in this fast-moving environment. 

The UAE-based FinTech strives to remain at the forefront of solving the ever-emerging financial needs of the UAE and future markets by delivering the advantages of secure, instant, and cashless payments through product innovation and cutting-edge digital technology developed fully in-house. On the successful pre-seed round, Ehsan Rahman CEO Kamel Pay commented “We are determined to revolutionize and enhance the quality of lives of the 20M underbanked GCC expatriates through our digital financial services platform. With an 85% smartphone penetration amongst the underbanked GCC expatriates and USD 100 Bn flow, the market is now ripe for disruption."

The Kamel Pay founding team comprises a group of seasoned professionals with over 100+years of collective commercial/investment banking and technology leadership experience with a proven track record of developing and executing innovative customer-centric digital solutions delivering value-added customer benefits in multiple banking and financial services organizations across the region. The UAE-based FinTech will be able to utilize its newly acquired funds to further support its platform and initiate its cross-border market expansion. In light of this sizable Pre-Seed investment Angel Investor Asif Keshodia concluded, “The Kamel Pay team with their vast experience of Banking and financial services has a deep understanding of the problems of the underbanked population of the region. Their plan to use the technology to address these gaps will open up new opportunities in this segment. I am very excited to be part of their journey and look forward to seeing them growing and expanding in the region.”