The SME Story: Armin Moradi, co-founder and CEO of Qashio

What is the core concept of Qashio?
Qashio is an enterprise-grade expense management platform and financial control centre that equips finance, human resources and other departments with automated and transparent expense reporting, better visibility, control of cash flows and an empowered workforce.

It helps businesses create software-enabled corporate cards for employees as well as automate accounts payables, allowing them to control petty cash, and manage finances with more control on efficiencies and processes.

With real-time tracking for every business expense, Qashio’s reporting provides better visibility on each spend, allowing finance leaders to make informed cash flow decisions.

How did the idea for Qashio arise?
I have 12 years of experience that spans various industries, including fintech and enterprise software, e-commerce and retail, IT consulting and foodtech.

At Oracle, I transformed various business processes, particularly financial operations and productivity, which enabled me to build the ERP software distributor Lytecone in 2017. After this, I took on the role of managing director for the UAE and Saudi Arabia at Carriage, the food delivery application, which was sold for $150m to Delivery Hero.

As commercial and finance director at Oman’s Royal Avenue Investments, I gained insight into inefficiencies plaguing regional enterprises, particularly those that can be solved through technology. I enjoy growing the commercial scope of companies, with a focus on revenue generation, financial health and sales, which is where the idea and passion for Qashio arise from. My goal is to disrupt archaic financial processes by using my skills in fintech and digital transformation.

Give us a business overview of your operations and funding.
As the co-founder and CEO, I’m responsible for commercial growth and scaling up operations. Qashio’s co-founder is Jonathan Lau, who I met while working at Carriage. We established the company in 2021 in Dubai and currently have 10 employees. Our focus is markets in Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Our pre-seed funding round was led by global VC firm MSA Novo (over $1.5bn assets under management) and supported by Rally Cap Ventures, Palm Drive Capital, Plug and Play Ventures, as well as regional strategic angels, entrepreneurs and family offices. Qashio raised a total of $2.5m.

What are some of the biggest hurdles that expense management platforms face and how is Qashio tackling them?
The B2B fintech space is young within the MENA region. This creates a challenge not only in navigating around regulations, but also in finding experienced local talent.

We decided to actively engage with the local fintech ecosystem early on while we spoke with global giants through our existing network. This has enabled us to accurately execute our strategy while also tapping into a global pool of experienced talent. Being headquartered in Dubai helps as many skilled expat workers are motivated to relocate here.

What are your key takeaways from running Qashio?
Planning and strategising for perfection will never deliver results. Making decisions and executing them while being disciplined is more impactful. The moment I recognised the power of making a decision and then having the discipline to get it done – results began to manifest faster.

What are your upcoming expansion plans for the business?
Qashio is going to expand geographically with offices first in Saudi Arabia and Egypt and then further expand into the wider MENAP (Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan) region in the foreseeable future.