Fintech platform FlapKap raised $34 M Pre-series A debt and equity funding
Nearly two years after receiving $3.6 million in seed funding, FlapKap, a fintech platform based in Abu Dhabi and originally from Egypt, has raised $34 million in a pre-Series A funding round, bringing its total funding to $37.6 million.
Led by BECO Capital, the round comprises debt and equity financing. Pact VC made a sizable new investment, and A15, Nclude, QED Investors, and Channel Capital contributed further funds.
With this new investment, the fintech company hopes to reach more small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
A portion of the funds will also be used to improve the fintech’s technological framework in order to introduce trade finance solutions made exclusively for B2B companies.
Ahmad Coucha, Khaled Nassef, Sherif Bichara, and Kunal Harisinghani co-founded FlapKap in 2022. The company offers revenue-based and embedded financing solutions to help SMEs, particularly those in the restaurant, retail, and e-commerce industries, scale their inventory and digital ads with instant funding and the option to pay later.
Fintech streamlines the loan approval process, which helps these businesses—the majority of which have limited access to traditional bank loans or venture capital—address a number of financial challenges.
“The growth in data has made it easier than ever to support SMEs,” said Coucha, FlapKap CEO and co-founder.
“This investment will support our continued growth in the UAE and Egypt and further our expansion into the rest of the GCC.”
Utilizing payment gateways, social media, eCommerce websites, bank accounts, and other non-traditional data sources, the platform’s data-driven methodology evaluates candidates.
The fintech platform lowers operating costs while providing accurate underwriting through the use of open banking and AI-powered models.
In less than 48 hours after a potential company signs up, the Abu Dhabi-based fintech says it can evaluate, approve, and present offers to them. Since then, it has broadened its services to support a wider range of offline and online SMEs.
In most MENA countries, SMEs account for up to 90% of all businesses; however, many of them face difficulties obtaining the funding they require to expand. To combat this, the fintech with its headquarters in the UAE automates the lending procedure.
With the SME financing gap in the MENA region estimated by the International Finance Corporation to be $180 billion, FlapKap hopes to continue addressing this significant challenge. According to the platform, during the last two years, it has doubled both quarterly originations and disbursements while establishing a strong network of merchants throughout Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
