The global spend management sector is experiencing a headwind. North America is arguably the largest market in this sector, but spend management companies have seen demand grow across the globe, thanks to growing internet penetration, technological advancements and a growing focus by businesses on ensuring that they spend wisely.
Indeed, the space is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate 10.3% by 2030, per Grand View Research and adoption in other regions such as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is expected to accelerate as companies increasingly adopt spend management tools to get a clearer picture of where their money is going.
A simplified financial solutions company based in Saudi Arabia (SiFi), one such spend management platform in the MENA region, has now raised $10 million in a seed funding round to double down on its growth plans in its home market. The round was led by Sanabil Investments, a member of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, and early-stage MENA VC RAED Ventures.
Founded in 2021 by Ahmed Alhakbani, SiFi helps organizations manage all their spending, including supplier and bill payments, and is looking to expand its business after receiving an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia (SAMA) last year. The company plans to leverage the license to provide a range of services, including e-wallets and corporate smart cards.
Alhakbani told TechCrunch that he thought of starting SiFi when he was working as the head of customs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He saw firsthand how fragmented spending management was at the Kingdom’s headquarters and entry points — making it doubly difficult to track and control spending, and even leaving room for misuse.
SiFi’s product allows its customers to control the use of their corporate cards and limit spending at a commercial or geographic level. The platform also enables employees, especially those who do not use company cards, to submit claims for reimbursement, their expenses and invoices.
Alhakbani said the platform helps companies avoid spend management problems such as human error, fraud, lack of proper workflows, approval delays and lack of spend visibility. “We believe SiFi could play a very important role in enabling finance departments to become much more efficient in their ability to serve the rest of the company. We want to go beyond simple expenses to the full suite of expense solutions within a company,” he said.
He said SiFi is building a solution that will go beyond Saudi Arabia, as its technology stack allows it to integrate into any market. He noted, however, that the goal will be to grow outside of Saudi Arabia.
SiFi’s competitors in the MENA region include Saudi Arabia’s Sanad, UAE-based Pemo, which saw a major seed round in 2022, and Alaan.
Other investors who participated in SiFi’s seed round include anb seed, Rua Ventures, Byld and KBW ventures and existing VCs Khwarizmi Ventures, Seedra Ventures and Tech Invest Com.
SiFi joins a growing list of Saudi startups that have raised good money this year, even as VC activity has slowed globally. The country continues to to take the lead in terms of venture capital investment in the MENA region, spurred by the government’s push to create an enabling environment for innovators and businesses as it seeks to diversify its revenue streams and reduce its dependence on oil.
