Saudi Arabia-based debt and Investment company, Manafa announced the closing of its Series A round of SAR 106 million ($28 million) led by STV and Wa’ed Ventures, the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco.
The company was founded in 2018 by Abdulaziz Al-Adwani to provide financial products tailored to fulfill the needs of SMEs in various sectors by offering debt and equity financing based on a crowdfunding model, which allows institutional investors like financial institutions and investment funds or Individual Investors to access SMEs financing opportunities through debt and equity securities.
The platforms are licensed by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) and the Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA).
Manafa aims to bridge the financing gaps for SMEs by opening the opportunity to a larger segment of local retail and institutional investors to invest in.
To date, Manafa has funded more than 180 SMEs, with total funding of more than SAR1.5 Billion through its platforms with the participation of more than 100,000 retail and institutional investors.
Manafa plans to turbocharge its growth in the Kingdom, and expand its offering with the launch of several products and financing solutions across untapped sectors; in addition to doubling the number of investors who are provided with the opportunity to invest in previously-inaccessible alternative asset classes.
“At Manafa and since its establishment, we were focused on attracting Saudi competent talents that helped in building a sophisticated technical infrastructure that has enabled the financing of SMEs in less than 48 hours through a network of more than a hundred thousand investors. Manafa is planning to launch a new set of products that tackle quick access to financing and capital and empower SMEs to fuel their growth.” said Abdulaziz Al-Adwani, founder and CEO of Manafa Capital.
Manafa plans to use the investment to accelerate its growth in Saudi Arabia, and expand its offering with the launch of several products and financing solutions in addition to doubling the number of investors on its platform.
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