UAE based fintech robo-advisor, Sarwa raised $8.4 million in a Series A round led by Kuwait Projects Company (Holding), KIPCO and joined by a large list of strategic investors and partners, including Abu Dhabi Investment Office, ADIO, Saudi-based Vision Ventures, UK-based Hambro Perks, 500 Startups and Shorooq Partners.
Sarwa is a is an online financial advisor that takes the hurdles out of investing, making investment accessible and simple. It was co-founded by by Mark Chahwan, Jad Sayegh and Nadine Mezher in 2017. This round brings Sarwa’s total funding to over $10 million.
The company grew by more than 10X in 2019 and will be allocate the funding to expand and grow further. The Sarwa team wants to “fight expensive, non-transparent saving plans” and to expand into new markets including Saudi Arabia. It will also leverage its partnership with ADIO to expand to Abu Dhabi where it is growing its the tech team.
This is the first time that a regional investment group collaborates with a regional fintech company. “KIPCO’s move confirms that it is the right time for the market to move towards affordable, accessible investing”, said the team in a statement. KIPCO is a regional investment holding group with consolidated assets of more than $30 billion.
KIPCO is delighted to be making its first fintech investment in Sarwa, which shares our belief in the need to encourage more people in the region to save by making available more accessible and reliable investment platforms. Sarwa speaks the language of the younger generation, an important and growing untapped segment. Our investment will give Sarwa access to KIPCO’s network of businesses and clients across the region
Osama T. Al Ghoussein, SVP Banking, KIPCO
Sarwa was the first firm within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) to be granted an Innovation Testing License and was part of the first cohort of DIFC FinTech Hive.
The coming together of a large institution that understands how to build leading asset managers, with the first licensed fintech out here sets a great example for the region. This is a vote of confidence from a Financial Institution that decided to collaborate with a team they trust to deliver superior client experiences and investment returns in wealth management
Mark Chahwan, Co-founder & CEO, Sarwa
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