Fina, the financial arm of Saudi B2B commerce platform SILQ, has secured a SAR 282 million (approximately $75 million) Sharia-compliant debt facility from London-based investment firm Fasanara Capital. The financing is set to expand Fina’s embedded working capital solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the Kingdom.
Quick Facts
- Facility Size: $75 million (SAR 282 million).
- Lead Investor: London-based Fasanara Capital.
- 2024 Target: Provide SAR 3 billion in liquidity to 2,000+ SMEs.
Tackling the Kingdom’s SME Credit Gap
Fina aims to address a significant challenge within the Saudi economy. According to the Saudi SME Bank, the financing gap for SMEs is estimated at SAR 300 billion. This credit shortage presents a major hurdle for a sector central to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which aims to increase SME contribution to the national GDP.
By integrating financing directly into existing business operations, Fina provides a more accessible alternative to traditional lending models, targeting a critical market need.
Financing Embedded in Workflow
Operating within the SILQ ecosystem, Fina’s model moves beyond conventional credit assessments. It embeds working capital directly into the digital workflows that merchants already use for buying, selling, and managing their operations. Funding decisions are based on real-time business activity and transactional data, allowing for faster and more flexible capital deployment that aligns with the day-to-day commercial cycles of an SME.
This approach follows a successful track record, with Fina having deployed SAR 1.5 billion in financing over the last 12 months. The new facility will power its ambitious goal of injecting SAR 3 billion this year.
“The challenge is not just access to capital, but access to capital designed for the reality of how merchants work,” said Mohamed Al-Dossary, Co-founder of SILQ and CEO of its finance division. “Our partnership with Fasanara is a major milestone. Their deep expertise in embedded finance makes them the right long-term partner to help more Saudi businesses access Sharia-compliant capital that is integrated into their trade flow.”
Fasanara Capital, a firm managing nearly $6 billion in assets, specializes in providing institutional capital to fintech lenders and tech-backed credit platforms globally.
“Access to working capital remains a key priority for SMEs globally, and we believe that tech-enabled platforms like Fina can play an important role in helping merchants access financing more efficiently and flexibly,” commented Matt Kus, Partner at Fasanara Capital.
About Fina
Fina is the financial technology arm of SILQ, a Saudi-based company building infrastructure for B2B commerce. It provides Sharia-compliant, embedded working capital solutions for SMEs by leveraging data from SILQ’s integrated ecosystem of commerce, payments, and digital operations tools.
About Fasanara Capital
Fasanara Capital is a global investment management firm based in London, with approximately $6 billion in assets under management. The firm is a key provider of institutional capital for fintech lenders and tech-backed credit platforms, focusing on asset-backed financing and data-driven private credit.
Source: Jawlah
