Saudi Crowdfunding Platform Manafa Secures $28M Series A Round

Manafa, a crowdfunding fintech platform based in Saudi Arabia, has closed its Series A funding round with $28 million. The round was led by STV and Wa'ed Ventures.

Founded in 2018 by Amr Murad and Abdulaziz Al-Adwani, the platform provides financial products for SMEs across a variety of sectors with debt and equity financing, which are based on a crowdfunding model. Licensed by the Saudi Central Bank and the Saudi Capital Market Authority, Manafa allows institutional investors, such as investment funds or financial institutions, to access financing opportunities amidst SMEs through debt and equity securities.

"The idea of Manafa started with the launch of the Financial Sector Development Program as one of the Vision 2030 realisation programmes," Eng. Amr Murad, Co-Founder and Chairman of Manafa, says. "Today, and within a short period, we were able to transform one of the vision’s goals into a reality that efficiently contributes to the providing of financing, investment and savings solutions through solid, effective and reliable technology-enabled business models."

Manafa will use these funds to power its growth in Saudi Arabia, and launch a variety of products and financing solutions across a number of untapped sectors. They also seek to double the number of investors, giving them the chance to invest in previously-inaccessible alternative asset classes.