Lendo closes a series B investment round:Shariah-compliant fintech company Lendo has secured SAR 105 mn (USD 28 mn) in series B funding led by the Public Investment Fund subsidiary Sanabil Investments, with participation from Shorooq Partners, AB Ventures, among others, it said in a press release (pdf) yesterday. This brings the company’s total funds raised to date to USD 63.2 mn.

The company’s name speaks for itself: Lendo is a peer-to-peer debt crowdfunding platform that connects SMEs with lenders. Companies in the kingdom that have been in the market for at least one year with a turnover of not less than SAR 2 mn can apply for loans on Lendo after they pass a due diligence screen.

The funds will drive expansion: “We are going to expand into new markets, support new and current customers and launch new Shariah-compliant products,” said Lendo’s co-founder and CEO, Osama Alraee. Lendo claims that its customer base has grown 3x y-o-y, without giving a figure.

An IPO next? Alraee mentioned plans for an IPO without disclosing a timeframe.

Lendo was profitable in the third quarter of this year, according to the company’s financialstatements (pdf), turning in a bottom line of SAR 588k compared with a net loss of SAR 1 mn in the same quarter last year. For 9M 2023, it has losses of SAR 1 mn on its bottom line. As you’d expect from a venture-backed company, Lendo has seen losses widen as it has grown: It lost SAR 5.2 mn in 2022 and SAR 797k in 2021.

BLINK SEED ROUND

Saudi-basedSaaS Startup Blink has closed a USD 2.1 mn seed funding round with participation from 500 Global and Global Founders Capital, alongside existing investors including Orbit Startup / SOSV, it said in a statement on Friday. Blink plans to use the funds in a quest to accumulate additional market share.

Meet Blink: The SaaS company builds online-ordering websites and mobile apps with a toolkit that includes analytics, fleet management, tracking, and engagement tools. It aims to help restaurants rely less on delivery apps that eat up margins by an average of 20%. It currently operates in the MENA region, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, according to Forbes Middle East.

JADA + eWTP

PIF’s Jada Fund of Funds Company has committed fresh capital to the eWTP Arabia Technology Innovation Fund II, eWTP said on Friday. Neither party said how much Jada committed this time around, but Al Arabiya says that the cash brings Jada’s total commitment to the fund to USD 200 mn. Alibaba-backed VC eWTP is raising USD 1 bn in fresh capital in a round expected to close early in 2024, Bloomberg says. “We have a few funds from different pockets of the PIF. We are a strategy partner with Saudi Aramco and we are working very closely,” Bloomberg quotes eWTP Founder and Managing Partner Jessica Wong as saying.

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