Haball plans Saudi expansion amid wider Middle East play: Pakistan-based fintech Haball secured plans to expand into the Kingdom before the end of the year and establish a regional office, it said in a statement (pdf).

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The announcement comes after a pre-Series A round saw the startup raise USD 52 mn, including USD 5 mn in equity and a USD 47 mn strategic financing facility, led by Zayn VC and Meezan Bank.

Why it matters: Islamic banking in Pakistan has been rapidly rising, reaching USD 34.5 bn as of mid-2024, with supply chain finance expected to exceed USD 9 bn. Haball’s expansion into Saudi will allow it to capitalize on our well-established Islamic banking ecosystem, which logged some SAR 2.7 tn in assets by the end of FY 2022, according to the Saudi Central Bank’s latest annual report (pdf).

About Haball: Launched in 2017 by Omer bin Ahsan (LinkedIn), the Karachi-based fintech company specializes in shariah-compliant digital payment and financing solutions aimed at optimizing supply chains. It offers services such as digital invoicing, payment collection, and tax compliance — catering to some 8k SMEs and multinationals. The company has so far processed more than USD 3 bn in payments and disbursed some USD 110 mn in financing.

Reuters also had the story.

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