Saudi fintech Abwab.ai has raised SAR 15 million ($4 million) in a seed funding round led by European venture capital firm Speedinvest, with participation from Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP).
The investment marks Speedinvest’s first investment in Saudi Arabia and comes as Abwab.ai expands its AI-powered technology for SME lending.
Founded in Riyadh in 2023, Abwab.ai provides technology that enables banks, finance companies and other financial institutions to manage SME lending at scale. The company says its platform has already been used to process more than SAR 10 billion ($2.7 billion) in SME loans through more than 10 financial institutions in the Kingdom.
Its customers include Abdul Latif Jameel Finance, Kafalah, Hala and Lendo.
Technology for SME Lending
Abwab.ai does not lend directly to businesses. Instead, it provides the technology infrastructure financial institutions use to manage the SME lending process.
Its platform covers the full lifecycle of an SME loan, including onboarding, origination, credit assessment, disbursement, servicing, billing, collections and recovery.
Financial institutions can deploy the complete technology stack or integrate individual components into their existing systems.
The company is targeting a key challenge in SME finance. Smaller business loans have traditionally required significant manual assessment and servicing, making them more expensive for financial institutions to originate and manage at scale.
“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,” said Baraa Koshak, Founder and CEO of Abwab.ai.
He added that the company aims to provide the technology needed for lenders to assess, serve and manage a significantly larger number of businesses.
Supporting Saudi Arabia’s Growing SME Sector
Saudi Arabia has more than 1.7 million SMEs, employing approximately 8.8 million people and contributing 22.9% of GDP, according to the announcement.
The Kingdom has set an objective of increasing the contribution of SMEs to 35% of GDP by 2030. As the sector expands, financial institutions face the challenge of managing greater volumes of SME credit efficiently and sustainably.
Abwab.ai is positioning its technology as an infrastructure layer that can help financial institutions expand SME lending while improving the speed, scalability and economics of the process.
The investment also comes during Saudi Arabia’s Year of Artificial Intelligence 2026, as the Kingdom places greater emphasis on AI adoption, technology entrepreneurship and the development of a data- and AI-driven economy.
For Speedinvest, the investment represents its entry into the Saudi market through a fintech focused on applying AI and technology to SME finance. The company manages more than €1.2 billion in assets under management.
