Comfi, a UAE-based B2B embedded finance platform, has announced a $65 million Pre-Series A funding round composed of both equity and debt. The company aims to tackle the persistent cash flow challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the MENA region.
Quick Facts
- Funding: US$65 million Pre-Series A (equity & debt).
- Lead Investor: Iliad Partners led the equity round.
- Focus: B2B Buy Now, Pay Later for MENA SMEs.
Breaking the B2B Payment Cycle
For countless SMEs in the region, lengthy B2B payment cycles, often stretching for months, create a significant barrier to growth. This delay in collecting payments restricts access to vital working capital needed for inventory, hiring, and expansion.
Comfi addresses this problem with its B2B Buy Now, Pay Later solution, which allows SME suppliers to offer customers payment terms of up to 90 days while receiving their funds within 24 hours. This model is designed to help businesses build resilience and sustain growth.
“We built Comfi from firsthand experience with how disruptive payment cycles can be to an SME’s operations,” commented Sanjar Samiev, Co-founder and CEO of Comfi.
“When you’re waiting over 60 days to get paid, you can’t invest in inventory, hire the right people, or take on new opportunities, you’re just surviving. We’re fixing that by combining embedded finance with AI-driven risk and underwriting to unlock capital instantly, without the friction of traditional lending.”
Investor Confidence in a Scalable Model
The equity portion of the round was led by Iliad Partners, with participation from Yango Ventures and Raw Ventures, marking the first regional investment for both firms. The funding also includes a credit facility from Partners for Growth and a mezzanine facility structured by Shorooq Partners, joined by a prominent family office.
Christos Mastoras, Founder and Managing Partner of Iliad Partners, stated, “Comfi is doing exactly that, tackling one of the most fundamental pain points in the region: access to working capital for SMEs. By combining AI-driven underwriting with disciplined risk management, the team has built a scalable platform designed for real-economy impact.”
This sentiment was echoed by debt partners who highlighted the platform’s disciplined approach to credit risk.
“What stood out to us about Comfi is not just the growth, but its ability to execute and underwrite credit risk utilising its proprietary engine with real transaction data,” said Joe Barron, Credit Principal at Shorooq. “From our perspective as credit investors, that creates a more resilient and scalable model than traditional working capital lending.”
Armineh Baghoomian, Managing Director at Partners for Growth, added, “Comfi’s strong model and innovative approach reflect the ambition, energy and hard work of Sanjar, Alisher, Amal and Denis, and we have been consistently impressed by the team’s execution.”
Fueling Regional Expansion
Founded in 2023 by Sanjar Samiev, Alisher Akbarov, Amal Abdullaev, and Denis Gavrilin, Comfi has already processed over 15,000 invoices and serves more than 1,000 clients.
Samiev explained the impact of the new funding: “This Pre-Series A round gives us the resources to scale our products, strengthen our regional partnerships, and expand access to fast, reliable working capital across MENA.”
The new capital will be used to scale its underwriting and risk capabilities, expand its product offering, and accelerate growth across key regional markets.
About Comfi
Comfi is a B2B embedded finance platform that helps SMEs unlock working capital faster by offering flexible payment terms to their business customers (up to 90 days), while enabling suppliers to get paid immediately. The company bridges the cash flow gap in B2B supply chains across the MENA region by embedding financing directly into transactions.
Source: Entarabi
