• UAE-based fintech Fundbot, has raised a $1.5 million Seed round led by Hambro Perks Oryx Fund, with further support from Aditum Investment Management Limited, Flat6Labs, Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), and PlusVC. 
• Founded in 2020 by Karl Abou Zeid, Fundbot automates corporate lending and payments between banks, buyers, and sellers.
• The new funding will fuel the company’s expansion plans in the Mena region, initially in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and later into Oman, Bahrain, and Egypt.

Press release:

Fundbot, a FinTech startup that automates corporate lending and payments between banks, buyers, and sellers, announced today that it has raised a $1.5 million seed-funding round from MENA-based VC Hambro Perks Oryx Fund, with additional support from Aditum Investment Management Limited, Flat6Labs, Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), and PlusVC. The company targets significant expansion in the MENA region, initially in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and later into Oman, Bahrain, and Egypt.

Created to address cash flow problems for startups, Fundbot offers a fully automated, end-to-end embedded solution that enhances the efficiency of supply chain finance and helps banks, FinTechs, and B2B marketplaces embed and rapidly launch financial services.

“We are thrilled to have the support of these seasoned investors whose role goes beyond capital infusion to facilitating introductions to potential partners and clients, which contributes significantly to our scalability and market connectivity,” said Fundbot CEO Karl Abou Zeid. “The region is home to 19 million SMEs, three quarters of which are suffering from delayed payments, amounting to a regional cash flow gap of $250 billion. Fundbot’s embedded supply-chain financing solution can support both large and small enterprises and contribute to sustained economic growth throughout the region.”

Value to Enterprises and SMEs

With Fundbot, banks, telcos, FinTechs, and marketplaces can streamline and optimise workflows, reducing the need for manual intervention and minimising the risk of errors. Fundbot can also enable these businesses to create new revenue streams by delivering faster, more efficient finance. 

Fundbot’s benefits to SMEs include gaining access to swift and flexible financing options, significantly enhancing purchasing power, and allowing smaller businesses to seize opportunities, address unexpected expenses, or capitalise on market trends. For these organisations, Fundbot brings improved cash flow management, reduced administrative overhead, and real-time visibility of financial transactions, leading to more informed decisions.

“We are thrilled to announce our strategic investment in Fundbot, an infrastructure solution that facilitates and streamlines SMEs access to banks’ credit products while avoiding any credit risk," commented Syrine Ben Mansour, Principal at Hambro Perks Oryx Fund. "With a track record of supporting leading fintechs and a commitment to driving innovation in the fintech space, we look forward to collaborating with Fundbot to grow the business and contribute to their scaling efforts in the MENA region.

Robust Security

Critical to Fundbot’s success has been its commitment to the FSI sector’s rigorous security requirements. In addition to implementing market-leading security technologies and following industry best practises, the company runs an isolated customer infrastructure, subjecting it to internal and external penetration tests every six months, monthly internal network and application scans, and daily infrastructure scans. Fundbot also implements disaster recovery protocols that are region-specific, “ensuring both operational efficiency and compliance with local regulations,” Karl Abou Zeid said.

“Fundbot has proven itself a boon to the FSI sector and SMEs everywhere with its ability to streamline aspects of cashflow,” said Ryaan Sharif, General Manager at Flat6Labs UAE. “Flat6Labs is proud to be a part of this company’s development journey and we look forward to seeing the bolstering effects it will have on the regional startup ecosystem to which we have committed ourselves.”