Saudi’s Lendo raises $7.2 million Series A for its SME lending marketplace

Saudi’s Lendo raises $7.2 million Series A for its SME lending marketplace

Riyadh-based fintech Lendo has raised $7.2 million in a Series A round led by Saudi's Derayah Ventures, it announced in a statement today to MENAbytes. The equity-only round also includes participation of Seedra Ventures, Shorooq Partners, 500 Startups, and Impact46.

Founded in 2019 by Osama AlRaee and Mohammad Jawabri, Lendo offers instant invoice financing to SMEs through its Shariah-complaint lending marketplace. The offering helps SMEs with their immediate cash requirements. Invoice financing is a popular short-term borrowing tool for businesses in different markets around the world where they use their receivables to get loans from banks (or other financial institutions) but there are hardly any banks that offer it in the region.

Lendo offers loans starting from SAR 100,000 (about $27,000) and going up to SAR 3 million ($800,000) by connecting the SMEs with investors on its marketplace through crowdlending (aka peer-to-peer lending). The SMEs looking for financing can apply on Lendo's platform if they have a valid Saudi business license (commercial registration), have been in operations for at least one year, and have an annual turnover of SAR 2 million ($530,000) at least.

The startup takes up to three days to review the profile after receiving all the required details and documentation.