NearPay, a Saudi financial infrastructure technology startup has closed $ 3.6 million in pre-Series A funding round led by Vision Ventures, with participation by Hala Ventures, Arzan VC, and Palm Ventures along with prominent angel investors. 

NearPay was established in 2020 by Mohammad Alaiban and Hamzah Alghamdi with the purpose of innovating payment solutions that make life easier for everyone. The startup partners with merchant service providers, payment service providers, and startups to enable easy mobile-based soft point of sale (softPOS) services.

“The localization of financial technology and the development of competencies that will be able to compete with internationally leading companies in the field of financial technology is one of the main goals of  NearPay. The company has established its goals by obtaining certificates from Visa and MasterCard which enabled NearPay-powered devices on any operating system to receive payments without the need for specialized high-cost devices or even the presence of an Internet sim card for financial payments. These advancements allow payment providers to reduce expenses and increase the number of devices needed to be supported and sold to merchants,” Hamzah Alghamdi, NearPay’s co-founder and chief technology officer, stated.

The startup recently launched softPOS, a product that allows merchants to securely accept payments through their mobile phones without the need for specialized hardware such as a payment terminal.

The funding raised will be used to enhance the company’s offering as well as expand the team. The startup had raised $2.1 million in a seed funding round in 2021.