erad, a Riyadh-headquartered alternative financing platform for SMEs, has raised US$33 million in debt financing to support its operations in Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC.

The company previous raised US$16 million to support its growth and expansion within Saudi Arabia and other regions.

The round was led by Stride Ventures, which recently expanded its team in the region and closed the first tranche of its ADGM Fund V, alongside participation from other investors.

The funding will be used to expand erad’s presence in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, scale its operations, and meet growing demand from SMEs across sectors including retail, F&B, healthcare and e-commerce.

erad aims to address the region’s US$250 billion SME credit gap by offering Shariah-compliant financing solutions and making growth capital more accessible.

Salem Abu-Hammour, Co-founder of erad, said:

“This investment follows a strong period of 5x growth (YoY), as we double down on our expansion in Saudi Arabia. Access to capital remains one of the primary challenges for SMEs across the region. We share a common vision with Stride Ventures, and as their first regional fintech platform, we look forward to delivering flexible financing solutions at greater scale.”

Since its launch, erad has provided more than US$50 million in funding to regional SMEs.

The company’s Shariah-compliant platform uses proprietary data modelling for risk assessment, enabling financing approvals within 48 hours, among the fastest in the region.

Since its founding, erad has received funding requests totalling more than US$532 million from well-known regional companies in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Featured image credit: erad