Arab News | Saudi fintech Abwab.ai raises $4m in seed round led by Speedinvest

RIYADH: Saudi fintech Abwab.ai raised SR15 million ($4 million) in a seed round led by European venture capital firm Speedinvest as it seeks to expand its AI-powered lending infrastructure for small and medium-sized businesses. 

Middle East Venture Partners also participated in the round, according to a company statement. The investment marks Speedinvest’s first investment in Saudi Arabia, the statement said. 

Riyadh-based Abwab.ai said financial institutions using its technology have processed more than SR10 billio in SME loans across more than 10 institutions in the Kingdom. 

Founded in 2023, Abwab.ai provides technology that enables banks, finance companies and other lenders to automate and scale SME lending rather than lending directly to businesses. Its platform covers the lending cycle from onboarding and origination to credit assessment, disbursement, servicing, billing, collections and recovery.  

The deal comes as Saudi Arabia aims to increase the contribution of SMEs to gross domestic product to 35 percent under Vision 2030, from a baseline of around 20 percent, with expanding access to credit seen as a key enabler of that goal. 

Baraa Koshak, founder and CEO of Abwab.ai, said: “Saudi Arabia has already made significant progress in expanding SME finance. The next stage is about giving financial institutions the infrastructure to continue that growth efficiently.”  

He added that SMEs represented one of the largest parts of the Kingdom’s business economy, yet a substantial financing opportunity remained. The company’s role, he said, was to build technology that allowed lenders and financial institutions to assess, serve and manage significantly more businesses.  

“Speedinvest’s investment is a testament that our technology, while built in Riyadh, solves a global issue, which is quick access to credit for SMEs,” added Koshak. 

The development also comes against the backdrop of the Saudi Cabinet’s decision in March to designate 2026 the Year of AI, placing greater emphasis on AI adoption across economic sectors, technology entrepreneurship and the development of a data- and AI-driven economy. 

Solving complexities for SMEs 

Saudi Arabia has more than 1.7 million SMEs, employing about 8.8 million people and contributing 22.9 percent of GDP in 2024. 

Under Vision 2030, the government aims to raise the SME contribution to GDP to 35 percent by 2030. 

The company said smaller business loans have historically required heavy manual assessment and servicing, making them costly for lenders to handle at volume. 

Rather than lending directly to businesses, Abwab.ai provides the technology used by banks, finance companies and other financial institutions to operate SME lending at scale. 

The company’s customers include Abdul Latif Jameel Finance, Kafalah, Hala and Lendo, with the financial institutions that use the platform having processed more than SR10 billion in SME loans.