Bahrain

Crypto Platform CoinMENA Picks Up US$9.5m Seed Funding

Bahrain-headquartered crypto trading platform CoinMENA has fetched US$9.5 million in seed funding, according to a statement. This is the first seed round to have been raised by the company.

It is also one of the largest seed rounds to have been raised this year by a Middle East fintech company, alongside Ziina, Tamara and Tarabut Gateway.

Investors BECO Capital, Kenetic, Arab Bank Switzerland, Bunat Ventures, Alameda Research, Rua Growth Fund and Girnas Capital pitched in, alongside global angel investors, for the round, the statement said. BECO Capital is known for its investments in Swvl, Kitopi, and Careem.

The crypto exchange, which is fully regulated and licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), was launched early this year by founders Dina Saman, Talal Tabbaa, and Yazan Barghuthi.

Crypto in MENA region growing at “rapid pace”: CoinMENA founders

Currently available in Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman, CoinMENA has plans to expand elsewhere in the MENA region.

The company competes with the likes of crypto exchanges BitOasis and Rain in the backdrop of rising interest in crypto investments across the Middle East.

CoinMENA received its license from the CBB in January this year. Soon after, the platform was launched with five cryptocurrencies, namely, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash, according to an earlier statement.

The Sharia-compliant platform currently provides access to 10 cryptocurrencies on its platform. Apart from the trading function, CoinMENA also offers an OTC Desk for transactions of larger values.

More recently, it also bagged a contract with the Dubai World Trade Centre Free Zone to build a crypto and blockchain hub in the UAE.

“With growing awareness about crypto assets and their transformative potential, appetite from both retail and institutional investors in the MENA region is growing at a rapid pace.

Our strategic capital partnerships provide support for our vision to increase the adoption of crypto assets in the region in a regulated and seamless manner. We believe that this is a positive outlook for the crypto assets sector over the coming years both locally and globally,”

a statement from the founders said.

Featured image: edited from Unsplash