Saudi Arabian FinTech Lean Technologies has raised $33 million in its latest funding round that will allow the company to expand its operations to new markets.
The funding round was led by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital India, with participation from existing investors Raed Ventures, Outliers, Shorooq and Jimco.
New investors Liberty City Ventures and Human Capital, and notable angels including Henrique Dubugras, founder of San Francisco-based financial services and technology company Brex; Jeff Immelt, former chief executive of GE; and American investor Michael Ovitz also took part in the round.
We started Lean with the aim of enabling the next generation of financial innovation in the Middle East, a mission deep-rooted in the hearts of our entire team
Hisham Al-Falih,
Lean’s co-founder and chief executive
“We started Lean with the aim of enabling the next generation of financial innovation in the Middle East, a mission deep-rooted in the hearts of our entire team … [Lean is] unleashing a new wave of cutting-edge financial solutions that will catalyse the lives of everyday people and businesses,” Hisham Al-Falih, Lean’s co-founder and chief executive, said.
“We are thrilled to be going on this journey with them [investors] and cannot wait to see what the future has in store.”
Lean, which has offices in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Cairo and London, intends to use the new capital to “grow its team and further expand across the region”.
Founded in September 2019 by former Stanford University roommates Mr Al-Falih and Aditya Sarkar, and ex-Silicon Valley technologist Ashu Gupta, Lean’s platform allows its clients to integrate with their customers’ bank accounts to retrieve pertinent account information or initiate instant bank transfers.
Start-ups in Saudi Arabia attracted a record $168m worth of venture capital funding through 54 transactions in the first half of 2021, according to data platform Magnitt. This is about 94 per cent of the money secured by the kingdom’s start-ups in 2020.
The FinTech sector, in particular, has witnessed a significant growth in the kingdom over the past few years.
Between January and August 2021, the kingdom had 16 venture investments in FinTech with a total deal value of $157.2 million, according to a report by Fintech Saudi. This is a significant increase from 2020 (seven venture investments worth $7.8m) and 2019 (six venture investments worth $18m).
Lean launched its flagship data and payments application programming interface (API) in February. Since then, the company has gained dozens of the region’s leading financial players as clients, connected to tens of thousands of customer accounts and processed hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions, it said without disclosing the exact numbers.
Lean is leading a financial revolution with their open banking platform, and helping redefine financial services and products across the region
Amit Jain,
managing director of Sequoia Capital India
API is a software intermediary that allows two different applications to connect or communicate with each other. For example, each time users use a mobile app like LinkedIn to send an instant message to others or check the market updates on their smartphone, they are using an API.
“Lean is leading a financial revolution with their open banking platform, and helping redefine financial services and products across the region. They are a visionary team, in the early innings of a very aspirational journey, and we look forward to the road ahead,” Amit Jain, managing director of Sequoia Capital India, said.
“In a very short span of time, they [Lean] have built a very robust tech platform, hired an exceptional team and have a growing list of some of the best customers.”
The Lean APIs have unlocked many new use cases and are being used by some of the region’s major financial institutions in various verticals, including those in remittances, cryptocurrency and investment, the company said.
Citizenship-by-investment programmes
United Kingdom
The UK offers three programmes for residency. The UK Overseas Business Representative Visa lets you open an overseas branch office of your existing company in the country at no extra investment. For the UK Tier 1 Innovator Visa, you are required to invest £50,000 (Dh238,000) into a business. You can also get a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa if you invest £2 million, £5m or £10m (the higher the investment, the sooner you obtain your permanent residency).
All UK residency visas get approved in 90 to 120 days and are valid for 3 years. After 3 years, the applicant can apply for extension of another 2 years. Once they have lived in the UK for a minimum of 6 months every year, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency (called Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year of ILR, the applicant can apply for UK passport.
The Caribbean
Depending on the country, the investment amount starts from $100,000 (Dh367,250) and can go up to $400,000 in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take between four to five months to receive a passport.
Portugal
The investment amount ranges from €350,000 to €500,000 (Dh1.5m to Dh2.16m) in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take a maximum of six months to receive a Golden Visa. Applicants can apply for permanent residency after five years and Portuguese citizenship after six years.
“Among European countries with residency programmes, Portugal has been the most popular because it offers the most cost-effective programme to eventually acquire citizenship of the European Union without ever residing in Portugal,” states Veronica Cotdemiey of Citizenship Invest.
Greece
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Greece is €250,000, making it the cheapest real estate residency visa scheme in Europe. You can apply for residency in four months and citizenship after seven years.
Spain
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Spain is €500,000. You can apply for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after 10 years. It is not necessary to live in Spain to retain and renew the residency visa permit.
Cyprus
Cyprus offers the quickest route to citizenship of a European country in only six months. An investment of €2m in real estate is required, making it the highest priced programme in Europe.
Malta
The Malta citizenship by investment programme is lengthy and investors are required to contribute sums as donations to the Maltese government. The applicant must either contribute at least €650,000 to the National Development & Social Fund. Spouses and children are required to contribute €25,000; unmarried children between 18 and 25 and dependent parents must contribute €50,000 each.
The second step is to make an investment in property of at least €350,000 or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum for five years. The third step is to invest at least €150,000 in bonds or shares approved by the Maltese government to be kept for at least five years.
Candidates must commit to a minimum physical presence in Malta before citizenship is granted. While you get residency in two months, you can apply for citizenship after a year.
Egypt
A one-year residency permit can be bought if you purchase property in Egypt worth $100,000. A three-year residency is available for those who invest $200,000 in property, and five years for those who purchase property worth $400,000.
Source: Citizenship Invest and Aqua Properties
