UAE-based fintech Qashio raises $10m in a seed round

UAE-headquartered fintech Qashio has raised $10m in a seed round, with participation from strategic international and regional investors to accelerate expansion into Saudi Arabia.

The round is supported by global investors such as One Way Ventures (early investors in Brex), MITAA, Cadorna Ventures, as well as regional investors such as Sanabil 500 MENA, Nuwa Capital, Iliad Partners, Phoenix Investments and strategic family offices and angels. The round consists of both equity and non-equity financing.

Founded in 2021 by Jonathan Lau and Armin Moradi, Qashio is said to be the first fintech in UAE history to issue employee corporate cards programmatically. Its enterprise-grade spend management platform enables business owners and finance leaders full visibility and control of all expenses.

Qashio’s dashboard integrates real-time tracking for every business expense and allows enterprises and SMEs to make informed cash flow decisions.

Lex Zhao, partner at One Way Ventures commented: “The co-founders Armin and Jonathan are a unique combination of deep ERP expertise and have a demonstrated track record of building world-class software products. We’re excited and grateful to join this round and to share our experience as early investors in Chipper Cash and Brex.”

Eric Menorval, CTO from central America banking group Namutek Fintech, has joined to lead the technical development and integrations, Arun Khehar, former SVP at Oracle ECEMEA and Antoine Massad, former CEO of MAN Group MENA and Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management have recently joined the advisory board, bringing decades of enterprise software expertise and investment network across the region.

Moradi said: “Saudi Arabia is making great efforts to align with its Vision 2030; taking fintech-friendly approaches and bringing more fintech firms into the market. At Qashio, we are proud to be an integral part of propelling a cashless society in the UAE and now Saudi Arabia. We are committed to helping companies move away from all those manual finance processes and get more visibility and control by providing a secure, safe solution that is ready for enterprise-grade deployment as well as SMEs.”

Lau added: “We’re grateful to all our investors and advisors for their support on our expansion into the largest country in the Middle East. This round of funding will help us to expand hiring and growth into Saudi Arabia and other parts of the GCC as well as accelerate the execution of the product roadmap. We are excited for the days ahead.”

Qashio’s virtual and physical cards combined with its software allow businesses to manage their spending in a more automated and transparent way, saving hundreds of man-hours and reducing petty cash leakage in the process. Finance and HR departments benefit from better expense reporting, better visibility, control of cash flows and an empowered workforce.

Read: Here’s how fintech helps businesses control their expenses and manage financial operations