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Dubai-based personal finance and investment platform Sarwa has gathered US$15 million in a Series B round of funding, the company announced in a statement.
Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investment firm Mubadala Investment Company led the round. Participating investors included 500 Startups, KIPCO, Shorooq Partners, MEVP, DIFC, Hambro Perks Oryx Fund, HALA Venture and Vision Ventures.
Mubadala and 500 Startups will also be assigned their representatives to Sarwa’s board.
Funding will be used to expand its market presence and team, and launch new products, the company said. Sarwa currently has over 40,000 registered users from across the MENA region, and is a partner of Abu Dhabi’s Hub71.
Founded in 2017, the company has raised US$25 million in capital so far. Investors include regional and international backers, as well as government funds. The company’s flagship product, Sarwa Invest, automates investing in global diversified portfolios.
The company also has plans to broaden its personal finance offerings, including commission-free stock trading platform Sarwa Trade and crypto investment platform Sarwa Crypto.
Sarwa Trade, which allows investors to trade on major global exchanges with US$1, is in the pre-launch stage. Meanwhile, Sarwa Invest has also lowered its minimum investment amount to US$5, from a previous US$500, as part of its growth strategy.
Ibrahim Ajami, Head of Ventures and Growth at Mubadala Investment Company
“Sarwa is revolutionising the financial services landscape in the Middle East by offering a range of investment solutions to a large market that has had little access to such services in the past.
In just three years, the company has nearly doubled its client funds and expanded its product base to include a wider range of securities and asset classes, reflecting the potential for further exponential growth,”
Ibrahim Ajami, Head of Ventures and Growth at Mubadala Investment Company, noted about the company.
Just last week, another retail trading platform baraka raised US$4 million in a seed round. Retail mutual funds and ETFs are also seeing increased investor interest as the retail trading trend catches up in the Middle East.
Players in the same mainly feature international companies such as Saxo Bank and Ava Trade, and international fintech startups as well, such as StashAway. For companies such as Sarwa and baraka, this indicates that there is room for homegrown personal finance platforms to make their presence felt.
