Financing Obtained by Fintech Venture Spare Amounting to $5M for Speeding Up Open Banking in the MENA Region
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are leading the charge in establishing frameworks to support open banking initiatives, with regulatory bodies in both countries working diligently towards this goal.
In Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has launched its Open Banking Program and established a phased regulatory framework. This move is aimed at fostering a digital economy and improving financial services.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of the UAE is developing its own regulatory framework to support open banking in the UAE. This development is expected to further fuel the growth of the open banking market in the region.
Amidst this accelerated momentum, Spare, a provider of open banking infrastructure, has raised $5 million in a Pre-Series A funding round. The investment was led by ANB Capital, the investment arm of the Arab National Bank.
Founded in 2019 by Dalal Al Rees and Surab Shah, Spare provides a secure, unified API that enables access to financial data and execution of payments between accounts. The company's solutions are trusted by leading companies such as Tab Payments, Tamara, and Zid.
With this funding round, Spare aims to expand its integration with banks and financial institutions, accelerate product development, and drive expansion across GCC markets. The company is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain and operates under the regulatory oversight of several GCC central banks.
Other investors in the round include Vision Ventures, SEEDRA Ventures, Boubyan Ventures, 500 Global, Middle East Venture Partners, and a group of individual investors.
Dalal Alrayes, Co-founder and CEO of Spare, stated that the company sets a new standard for open banking services in the region. Omar Ardati, Head of Private Equity at ANB Capital, expressed pride in supporting Spare's ambitious vision to unlock the full potential of open banking in the MENA region.
Kais Al-Essa, Founding Partner and CEO of Vision Ventures, noted that Spare is emerging as a key player in the open banking transformation in the region.
Estimates indicate that the open banking market in MENA is expected to reach $10.16 billion by 2030. With Spare's commitment to building the financial infrastructure that will empower the next generation of companies in the region, the future of open banking in MENA looks promising.
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