UAE FinTech FlexxPay raised approximately $1.5 million (Dh5.5m) in a pre-series A round from funders including Wamda Capital, the Dubai venture capital firm that has invested in prominent regional start-ups such as Souq and Careem.
FlexxPay, which allows employees to access part of their already-earned salaries in between pay cheques, signed up its first batch of UAE corporate customers in June and expanded to Saudi Arabia in September.
“FlexxPay is targeting a very clear pain point with an innovative and unique solution that will help unlock individuals’ income on an as-earned basis,” said Fadi Ghandour, executive chairman at Wamda, in a statement. “We are confident in the team’s ability to drive the company forward and are excited to partner with them on that journey.”
The online platform previously raised an undisclosed seed funding amount from individual and corporate investors in December last year. The latest funding round was led by Wamda and Arzan Venture Capital, as well as existing investors.
Michael Truschler, co-founder and chief executive of FlexxPay, said he has known Mr Ghandour for around 15 years.
"They knew what we were doing and they were interested," Mr Truschler told The National. "Having Wamda as an investor further validates our business model and inspires our team as a whole. It's a very positive sign."
FlexxPay recently signed a partnership agreement with Riyad Bank, which said in its October financial results that it is the third- biggest retail bank in the kingdom based on revenue. In the UAE, it has partnered with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank to process salary payments.
Corporate clients are able to sign up to the platform at no cost. Employees can then use the app to request up to 50 per cent of salary already earned (to a maximum of $500) for an average fee of Dh25.
The start-up aims to solve the problem of living from pay cheque to pay cheque. Similar models have been in place in North America and Europe, such as PayActiv, Earnin and Wagestream.
Financial matters are a major source of stress for employees, with 59 per cent stating that finances are their primary cause of concern, according to PwC’s eighth annual Employee Financial Wellness Survey 2019. That is more than all other stress factors, such as job, relationships and health concerns, combined.
Dozens of companies have signed up for FlexxPay, including pick-up and delivery service Fetchr in the UAE, and corporates in the automotive and telecom industries in Saudi Arabia.
“In the last three-to-four months, we have gained a lot of traction. We see that Saudi will be a focus for us in 2020,” Mr Truschler said.
Mountain Classification Tour de France after Stage 8 on Saturday:
- 1. Lilian Calmejane (France / Direct Energie) 11
- 2. Fabio Aru (Italy / Astana) 10
- 3. Daniel Martin (Ireland / Quick-Step) 8
- 4. Robert Gesink (Netherlands / LottoNL) 8
- 5. Warren Barguil (France / Sunweb) 7
- 6. Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) 6
- 7. Guillaume Martin (France / Wanty) 6
- 8. Jan Bakelants (Belgium / AG2R) 5
- 9. Serge Pauwels (Belgium / Dimension Data) 5
- 10. Richie Porte (Australia / BMC Racing) 4
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Sub Regional Qualifier
Event info: The tournament in Kuwait this month is the first phase of the qualifying process for sides from Asia for the 2020 World T20 in Australia. The UAE must finish within the top three teams out of the six at the competition to advance to the Asia regional finals. Success at regional finals would mean progression to the World T20 Qualifier.
UAE’s fixtures: Fri Apr 20, UAE v Qatar; Sat Apr 21, UAE v Saudi Arabia; Mon Apr 23, UAE v Bahrain; Tue Apr 24, UAE v Maldives; Thu Apr 26, UAE v Kuwait
World T20 2020 Qualifying process:
- Sixteen teams will play at the World T20 in two years’ time.
- Australia have already qualified as hosts
- Nine places are available to the top nine ranked sides in the ICC’s T20i standings, not including Australia, on Dec 31, 2018.
- The final six teams will be decided by a 14-team World T20 Qualifier.
World T20 standings: 1 Pakistan; 2 Australia; 3 India; 4 New Zealand; 5 England; 6 South Africa; 7 West Indies; 8 Sri Lanka; 9 Afghanistan; 10 Bangladesh; 11 Scotland; 12 Zimbabwe; 13 UAE; 14 Netherlands; 15 Hong Kong; 16 Papua New Guinea; 17 Oman; 18 Ireland
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
