Rewriting The Playbook: Fintech Startups Are Redefining How Money (And Trust) Move In The MENA

There’s a quiet revolution taking place in the Middle East’s financial ecosystem—and it isn’t happening inside banks.

Instead, it’s unfolding in the codebases of startups that are reimagining what financial infrastructure looks like when it’s built for the region—and not borrowed from elsewhere.

Consider, for instance, the four startups that won the MoneySurge pitch competition at this year’s Money20/20 Middle East in Saudi Arabia, which was the largest fintech gathering ever staged in the region, and the second largest worldwide.

From tokenizing real-world assets and democratizing credit access, to digitizing private market transactions and automating savings, the winning companies—Rabeh, Orbii, Zest Equity, and Eddekhar—are constructing the invisible rails on which the region’s financial future will run.

United by innovation, intent, and the belief that they are contributing to building the future financial infrastructure of the region, each of these ventures is tackling a foundational problem that has long defined finance in emerging markets: access. But in order to lower the barriers and gain a new perspective (and not to mention market share), they’re rewriting the playbook. By embedding artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and real-time data into the very architecture of financial systems, they’re proving that inclusion doesn’t have to mean compromise, but that it can mean precision, transparency, and trust.

Critically, these startups serve as an example of how the next layer of fintech infrastructure in the MENA will not revolve around copying successful models from other markets, but rather in developing innovative solutions to address deep-rooted challenges in the region. With solutions such as these, the region has the potential to become not just a hub, but rather a trend-setter for compliant financial technology. Plus, given how their ambitious visions were validated at Money20/20 Middle East, it was also a signal that the next great fintech story may not come from Silicon Valley or London, but rather from Riyadh or elsewhere in the MENA—where a new generation of builders are creating a smarter, fairer, and more connected financial layer for the region and the world.

As an example, check out Orbii, which was founded by Nauman Ali, Nasara Mughal, and Guillaume Kieffer in Saudi Arabia in 2024. As an AI-driven embedded lending platform that enables banks, neobanks, fintechs, and B2B ecosystems to develop and scale SME credit products, Orbii is effectively building what Ali—co-founder and CEO—calls “the credit intelligence layer for modern finance.” Instrumental to Orbii’s approach is how it utilizes intelligence rather than merely data, allowing it to expand credit access to businesses that would otherwise have remained invisible to lenders.

“Traditional credit systems have always looked backward; they depend on history, not behavior,” Ali explains. “But the truth is that millions of businesses have thin or no credit files at all. They’re invisible to the formal financial system, even if they’re financially healthy. Orbii changes that. Our platform uses AI and real-time data from a host of data sources to build a live picture of a business’s financial behavior. In under four minutes, we generate over a thousand data points to help a lender understand risk, growth potential, and repayment capacity. It’s credit intelligence that goes far beyond a credit score, and it augments the whole lending life cycle.”

Orbii co-founder Nauman Ali. Image courtesy Orbii.

In addition to accelerating processing times, Orbii’s intelligence is also helping to create a more inclusive—and more transparent—financial layer for enterprises. “Our clients have seen up to a 90 percent reduction in evaluation times, a 68 percent increase in approvals, and with real-time predictive non-performing loans, we’re making defaults a thing of the past,” Ali says. “But what excites me most is the inclusivity behind those numbers; we’re helping unlock credit for businesses that were never considered lendable before.”

Orbii’s ultimate goal? To democratize access to finance through intelligent data. “We believe credit can be both profitable and fair, and that’s the future we’re building toward.”

As such, receiving the Money20/ 20 award in the MoneySurge pitch competition was more than just a milestone for Orbii; it was a signal that its vision is shared by those at the forefront of financial innovation in the region. “It wasn’t just about recognition, it was validation from some of the most forward-thinking minds in global fintech that what we’re building at Orbii matters,” Ali adds. “The Money-Surge competition brought together world-class startups that are redefining fintech. It was an opportunity to showcase how credit intelligence can become a foundational layer for financial ecosystems. To be recognized among such an exceptional group of innovators, and by a judging panel that deeply understands both technology and finance, was incredibly encouraging.”

Ali also shares that, through the event, he realized that the moment is ripe for those building the region’s future financial infrastructure—and how receptive even legacy players are to that change. “What stood out to me most was how ready the region is for transformation,” he says. “Conversations with banks, financial organizations, regulators, and venture partners at Money20/20 Middle East weren’t about if AI will reshape credit, they were about how fast. That’s a huge shift from even two years ago.”

For Ali and his team, winning in the MoneySurge competition made it clear that not only is the region ready for change, it’s ready to lead the fintech ecosystem globally. “For Orbii, this recognition is both a signal and a springboard,” Ali continues. “It amplifies our credibility with institutions who are exploring new models of embedded credit and strengthens our partnerships with regional players who see Orbii as part of the infrastructure story. But beyond that, it reaffirmed our belief that the region can lead globally in the next generation of financial infrastructure. We’re not just catching up with the West, we’re building something more intelligent, more inclusive, and more connected from day one that could benefit the West, too. Money20/20 Middle East gave us one of the best platforms in finance to tell that story, and now, we’re focused on scaling it.”

Orbi was founded by Nauman Ali, Nasara Mughal, and Guillaume Kieffer in Saudi Arabia in 2024. Image courtesy Orbii. 

However, Ali admits that it hasn’t been easy for him and his team to get Orbii to this point. According to him, the biggest challenge for Orbii— and other startups building in fintech and AI—is trust. “When you’re asking institutions to let AI help decide who gets credit, you’re not just selling software,” he explains. “You’re asking them to evolve the way they think about risk, responsibility, and human judgment… In lending, trust isn’t built overnight.” Ali also highlights that for startups like his to emulate the performance of risk models, compliance frameworks, and decisioning processes that banks and financial institutions have spent decades building, they must first secure the trust of lenders. And to do that, he and his team decided to design Orbii’s models in partnership with lenders. “We don’t replace a lender’s expertise; we enhance it,” he adds. “Our models are explainable and modular, which means institutions can add their own moat on top of our intelligence layer. They can inject their own policies, risk criteria, and decision rules into our system, preserving what makes them unique, while benefiting from AI-level speed and precision.”

Ali also points out that Orbii is not operating in a silo—other fintech companies across the region are deploying technology like AI to improve access to finance, which, according to him, is a clear indication to him of the evolution of the ecosystem at large. “What’s exciting is that this shift is contagious,” Ali adds. “We’re already seeing other platforms start to think in terms of intelligence layers, not just digital products. The region is realizing that financial inclusion doesn’t come from lowering standards; it comes from raising intelligence.”

Much like Orbii, another startup that’s redefining access to finance is Eddekhar, the KSA-based digital savings and financial wellness platform that won the Impact Award in the MoneySurge competition. Founded in 2023, Eddekhar provides a frictionless savings infrastructure for employees by allowing companies to embed savings directly into their payrolls. The platform, which helps employees automatically save a portion of their salary each month, integrates directly into each company’s payroll system, so that savings are automatically deducted and deposited into secure, dedicated accounts for each employee. “Our mission is to make saving simple, accessible, and part of everyday life,” Abdulkareem Alkhiary (who co-founded Eddekhar with Adnan Alkhiary) tells Inc. Arabia. “For many people, the challenge isn’t the lack of intent to save—it’s the complexity and friction involved.”

For Alkhiary, who’s the Chief Technology Officer of Eddekhar, one of the biggest challenges that his startup had to face was encouraging companies to adopt a model that isn’t yet standard practice in the Kingdom. “Only a handful of employers currently offer savings programs, as these initiatives are often seen as ‘nice to have’ rather than essential,” he explains. “Traditionally, managing such programs is manual and burdensome, involving spreadsheets, approvals, and payroll coordination. We realized that for true adoption to happen, we had to remove every layer of friction. That’s why Eddekhar is built to be 100 percent automated, eliminating the administrative overhead for companies, and allowing employees to save effortlessly through payroll integration.”

Taking a step back to look at the bigger picture, Alkhiary points out that beyond simplifying the process of saving for employees, Eddekhar is also helping to build an infrastructure that connects financial institutions with both human resource (HR) departments and payroll systems—a foundation that he says simply doesn’t exist today. “This layer enables automated savings at scale and lays the groundwork for a more inclusive, efficient, and connected financial ecosystem across the region,” he explains.

Eddekhar co-founder Adnan Alkhiary. Image courtesy Eddekhar.

Having established a solid base in Saudi Arabia, Eddekhar is now looking to expand access to its services across the MENA region, “establishing a new layer of financial infrastructure that promotes inclusion, stability, and long-term financial well-being for the workforce.”

As such, participating in the MoneySurge contest at Money20/ 20 Middle East—a “world-class event,” according to Alkhiary—was critical to the company’s trajectory as it gears up for further growth. Besides providing Alkhiary and his team with the opportunity to connect with industry leaders and innovators leading the region’s financial future, the event’s recognition of Eddekhar also served as a validation of the work it has been doing. “Being selected as the most impactful fintech startup was a proud moment for us and a testament to our mission at Eddekhar—to make saving simple, accessible, and part of everyday life,” Alkhiary shares. “This recognition reinforces that we’re building something meaningful, and inshallah, it’s only the beginning of what we plan to achieve. The visibility and validation from Money20/20 Middle East will help us as we move into our next growth phase—forming strategic partnerships, expanding our user base, and continuing to strengthen the financial infrastructure that empowers both employers and employees in the region.”

KSA-based fintech Rabeh is also expanding financial access in a way that is unique to the region. The startup, which was founded by Mohammed Alsolami in 2023, enables digital investment and asset tokenization in a Sharia-compliant framework. By bringing fractional ownership and blockchain-backed verification to real estate, funds, and private ventures, Rabeh aims to make private and real estate investments accessible to a broader audience. “Our platform bridges investors, asset owners, and institutions through smart contracts and verified certificates, creating a transparent and efficient ecosystem,” Alsolami, founder and CEO of Rabeh, explains. “This approach democratizes access to high-value investment opportunities that were traditionally limited to institutions or ultra-high-net-worth individuals, while maintaining full regulatory alignment with the Capital Market Authority (CMA) FinTech Lab and Vision 2030 financial sector development program.”

As a founder operating in a relatively nascent industry in the region, Alsolami says that for his startup, the biggest challenge to date has been gaining the trust of users, particularly when introducing the concept of tokenization as a compliant mechanism for investment. “The concept of ‘digital shares’ or ‘investment certificates’ needed to be reframed from a technical product to a regulated financial instrument,” he notes. “We overcame this by partnering with regulated institutions and using real-world use cases—tokenized real estate and venture portfolios—to prove transparency, auditability, and Sharia compliance. Through these integrations, Rabeh is effectively creating a new digital financial infrastructure for the MENA region— one that connects investors directly with real assets, automates compliance, and supports secondary trading of investment tokens, thus improving liquidity across markets previously illiquid or inaccessible.”

Keeping this premise in mind, it’s easy to understand why Rabeh won the Seed Award in the MoneySurge competition at this year’s Money20/20 Middle East, and for Alsolami, it was “a defining milestone” for the company. “Being recognized with the Seed Award validated our mission to make investment access inclusive and compliant,” Alsolami says. “The exposure connected us with top investors, regulators, and global partners—catalyzing strategic partnerships that are now shaping Rabeh’s next phase of growth, including our upcoming regulated platform launch, and expansion into cross-border digital investments.”

Rabeh founder Mohammed Alsolami. Image courtesy Rabeh.

Rabeh’s story is part of a broader movement taking shape across the region, one that sees fintech startups leveraging technology to expand access to credit, investments, and savings. And it’s within this context that the final winner of this year’s MoneySurge contest shines: Zest Equity, a UAE-based startup building the digital infrastructure layer for private market transactions, which won the Scale Award.

Co-founded by Rawan Baddour and Zuhair Shamma in the UAE in 2021, Zest Equity— which is backed by global and regional investors that include Prosus Ventures, Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), and Morgan Stanley—is building the digital connective tissue between enterprises and investors. “What we’re really building is the infrastructure layer, or as we like to say, the pipes, that allow transactions to flow more efficiently, with the transparency and traceability this market needs to continue to thrive,” Baddour tells Inc. Arabia. “Zest is building the digital infrastructure layer for private market transactions to move faster and more transparently. Our platform removes the friction of managing stakeholders across multiple communication channels, and streamlines the execution process into a unified digital workflow that enables anyone leading an investment in a private asset—from funds and family offices to syndicates and entrepreneurs-to bring their investors together, digitize compliance processes, and execute their deals seamlessly.”

For Zest Equity, the aim is then, as Baddour says, to “make private market transactions across MENA as seamless and trustworthy as payments are today.” Baddour goes on, “This means transparency, streamlined workflows, embedded governance, compliance, and traceability, to provide deal leads and their investors with the tools they need to execute their transactions.”

The company’s first product allows anyone leading a transaction to bring together their network of investors and group them under a single investment vehicle, catering to various asset classes, including venture, traditional private equity, and real estate. “Building on this, our core product is a fully digital transaction stack that enables deal leads to consolidate investors into a single legal vehicle and execute investments end-to-end, seamlessly,” Baddour adds. “It also provides standardized yet customizable structures that allow anyone from a fund manager to a family office or business owner to customize based on transaction and commercial requirements.”

Since its launch four years ago, Zest Equity has already digitized over US$210 million across more than 160 transactions. But that doesn’t mean that the startup’s journey has all been smooth sailing—in fact, Baddour shares that the team has had to consistently prove its value to stakeholders across the board. “The toughest challenge has been mindset,” she says. “Private markets run on custom flows based on the nuances of each transaction, and for years, this has meant manual and non-standard processes: long email threads, spreadsheets, and different service providers each handling a certain part of the execution process. We learned early on that you can’t just talk about the value of digitization; you have to prove it through execution that is consistent and that delivers value every time. Transactions digitized through Zest proved to close more seamlessly than the traditional process, and gave visibility throughout the process, which helped us shift perceptions. Over time, that’s what built confidence and trust.”

Zest Equity co-founder Rawan Baddour. Image courtesy Zest Equity.

That foundation of trust has been key to the company’s win at Money20/20 Middle East, which also provided the Zest Equity team with the opportunity to meet and network with other fintech pioneers from across the region. “It was definitely a very proud moment for us,” Baddour says. “Money20/20 was a very curated event, and it brought together some of the brightest minds in fintech. It was an honor to present our Zest’s mission on that stage, and to such a relevant audience. Winning the Scale Award validated not just our vision, but the problem we’re solving, resonating with the market. Our region is at the early stages of digitization, and we truly believe that building a holistic infrastructure layer for private market transaction execution will add significant value. This recognition proved that the time to build the rails is now. It also reaffirmed that the MENA startup ecosystem is no longer following global trends—it’s setting them."

But building a new digital financial infrastructure layer for the region that democratizes access to finance and changes how money moves is no simple task. Besides having to change mindsets and overcome the challenges of adapting to the breakneck speed with which new technologies are developing, the four founders that Inc. Arabia interviewed for this piece say they have had to navigate additional barriers as well. For one, due to the low level of financial service penetration in the region, these fintech founders have found that the behavioral shifts required to drive adoption often lag behind the pace of change itself.

“Financial inclusion in the region is a multi-dimensional challenge,” Orbii’s Ali explains. “The barriers aren’t just technological; they’re also behavioral, regulatory, and structural. On the ground, many small and micro-businesses still operate outside the formal system. They don’t have audited financial statements or credit histories, so by traditional measures, they appear risky, even when they’re thriving.”

Rabeh’s Alsolami agrees, noting that in spite of the significant progress in terms of penetration, fintechs often have to make financial literacy an essential part of their journey to drive behavioral change. “Cultural and behavioral barriers remain significant—many investors still associate fintech with risk or complexity,” Alsolami says. “Our response has been to design an intuitive, bilingual, and education-driven user experience, combining financial literacy tools with clear disclosures and automated onboarding.”

Similarly, for Zest Equity’s Baddour, whose startup is building the infrastructure to manage investors’ money, key barriers remain when it comes to trust and transparency. She also points to the constraints of the technologies and tools that startups such as hers are deploying. “Many investors don’t have visibility over the execution process end-to-end; they may be asked for a document one day, a signature another, and then a few weeks later, a WhatsApp asking them to fund their investment,” Baddour explains. “On the other side, those leading a transaction have separate communications running in parallel with each of their investors. This is not a sustainable way [of ] managing a process—especially when this process relates to something as complex as an investment into a private asset.”

Abdulkareem Alkhiary co-founded Eddekhar in 2023. Image courtesy Eddekhar. 

Eddekhar’s Alkhiary, on the other hand, tells us that one of the biggest challenges for the region’s innovative fintechs is navigating regulation; however, that’s a hurdle he believes to be a “necessary and logical one.” As he explains, “In fintech, compliance isn’t an obstacle; it’s a responsibility. It ensures that what we build is secure, sustainable, and aligned with the trust that users and institutions place in us. For Eddekhar, the regulatory journey has been rigorous—it took more than a year to secure our initial license and approvals—but it’s also been a rewarding process that strengthened the foundation of our platform.”

Stories like these offer an indication of the support that the region’s regulatory frameworks, institutions, and national visions are providing to innovative fintech startups. For example, in Saudi Arabia, in line with Vision 2030’s goal of transforming the Kingdom to a digitally driven economy, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has been laying the regulatory groundwork for fintech innovation to flourish. Through initiatives such as its always-open regulatory sandbox, comprehensive payment services, open banking frameworks, as well as tailored licensing for digital-only players, SAMA is creating a clear and supportive pathway for fintechs to test, scale, and operate within a trusted environment. Complementing these efforts, the Capital Market Authority’s (CMA) FinTech Lab provides a parallel platform for capital market innovations, allowing startups and financial institutions to pilot new digital trading, investment, and crowdfunding models under regulatory oversight.

Eddekhar’s Alkhiary confirms this, noting that in his home base of Saudi Arabia, the regulators, far from hindering progress, are instead giving them a helping hand and creating “an environment where innovation can thrive.” Additionally, Alkhiary sees the eagerness of regulators to support fintechs such as his as an opportunity for them to participate in co-creating the region’s financial infrastructure. “We see regulation not as a barrier but as an evolving partnership between innovators and institutions—one that’s paving the way for fintechs like ours to design the next generation of inclusive, trusted financial solutions.”

Much like Alkhiary, Rabeh’s Alsolami notes that operating out of Saudi Arabia at this time of rapid digital transformation has given his startup a unique advantage. “Regulatory progress in Saudi Arabia has been remarkable—the CMA Fintech Lab, SAMA Sandbox, and Sharia Review Bureau frameworks are empowering innovators like us to safely test and scale solutions,” he says. “The institutional openness to experimentation, combined with Saudi Arabia’s rapid digital transformation, is accelerating financial inclusion at an unprecedented pace.”

Rabeh received the Seed Award at Money20/20 Middle East, 2025. Image courtesy Rabeh. 

But it’s not just in Saudi Arabia that regulations are increasingly building an ecosystem for innovation. In fact, Baddour points out how the increasingly supportive regulatory environment across the region as a whole is creating the ecosystem for fintechs such as hers to thrive and providing them with the opportunity to capture a share of the market. “Regulators across the region are doing incredible work in creating frameworks that allow fintechs to operate safely and scale responsibly,” she says. “You don’t tend to see this level of innovation and proactiveness from regulators—it is truly unique. The region is learning fast, and we’re growing right alongside that progress.”

And according to Ali, it is precisely the rapid pace of innovation in regulatory frameworks in the region that is giving startups like Orbii a unique advantage. “Regulators in Saudi Arabia and the UAE are not just watching fintech innovation, they’re shaping it,” he points out. “Open banking frameworks, fintech sandboxes, and data-sharing policies are creating a safe runway for AI-driven systems to scale responsibly. The result is an ecosystem that’s maturing in both sophistication and openness. We’re seeing regulators, lenders, and innovators come together to co-create a new financial infrastructure layer, one built on intelligence, interoperability, and inclusion.”

Together, those collective efforts and keenness to build for the future, notes Ali, are giving fintechs an edge. “What’s unique about building in this region is that we’re not constrained by legacy infrastructure, we’re building fresh,” he says. “And that gives us a huge advantage. The regulatory frameworks around open banking, AI governance, and digital identity are evolving rapidly, often with direct collaboration between governments and innovators. This alignment between policy and technology is what will allow startups like Orbii to create scalable impact.”

As all of these entrepreneurs thus look ahead to the future of fintech innovation in the region, they also share a few commonalities, chief among them being that their unwavering belief that, through their work, they are contributing to building the region’s financial future. But what’s perhaps most remarkable about their confidence is that they are not merely betting on themselves, they’re also betting on the success of other fintechs that are building alongside them— and, in some cases, competing with them. “Fintech startups like ours are essential to building a trusted, interoperable financial ecosystem in MENA—one where innovation and compliance coexist,” Rabeh’s Alsolami says. Eddekhar’s Alkhiary agrees, adding, “Startups like ours have a unique opportunity to localize innovation—to design products that reflect how people in our region actually live, work, and plan for the future. By combining technology with empathy, we can reshape financial behavior in a way that supports both individuals and institutions.”

As for Zest Equity’s Baddour, she stresses that she sees her company playing a pivotal role in the region’s financial infrastructure, which in turn, will create new opportunities. “We believe Zest is laying the foundation for how private markets in the MENA will operate in the next decade: streamlined, standardized, transparent, and more connected,” she declares. “As the ecosystem continues to mature, a platform like ours will become the connective tissue between investors, entrepreneurs, and capital. We’re not just building tools: we’re embedding trust, transparency, and efficiency into every transaction… The long-term vision? To make the MENA not just a destination for private capital, but a generator of it, powered by the infrastructure we’re building today.”

Meanwhile, for Saudi entrepreneurs Alkhiary and Alsolami, playing a part in actualizing the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 acts as a guiding principle, helping to drive innovation in both the business and the nation at large. Alsolami, for instance, tells us that he envisions Rabeh becoming a regional infrastructure player, “powering the digital rails for compliant asset tokenization, secondary market trading, and digital fund management.” “Our goal is to transform how assets are financed, owned, and traded—empowering investors, supporting SMEs, and contributing to the digital economic fabric of Vision 2030,” he says.

Similarly, Alkhiary stresses that he sees Eddekhar playing a foundational role in financial wellness not just in the Kingdom, but in the MENA at large. “Our goal is to become the trusted backbone for employee savings across the region, enabling organizations to offer financial wellness as a core benefit, not an afterthought,” Alkhiary says, while noting that in helping to power the next layer of fintech infrastructure innovation, Eddekhar’s mission is very much aligned with Saudi Arabia’s trajectory at large. “In line with the vision set by Saudi Arabia’s 2030 transformation, we aim to help foster a culture of saving and long-term financial security,” he says. “The next decade of fintech innovation in the MENA will be about creating value that lasts, and inshallah, Eddekhar will be part of the foundation that makes that possible.”

Orbii’s Ali is also looking forward to this future that his startup is helping shape. “We’re entering a defining decade for financial innovation in the region, one where data, trust, and intelligence will replace legacy infrastructure as the new pillars of growth,” he says. “We see ourselves as part of the connective tissue in that transformation, helping financial institutions and new entrants move from isolated systems to intelligent, interoperable ecosystems… At Orbii, our north star is to become the region’s trusted credit intelligence layer, powering inclusive lending, enabling embedded finance, and eventually, becoming part of the invisible infrastructure that helps money move more intelligently. If we can achieve that, we won’t just be shaping the financial future; we’ll be helping to define it.”

Pictured in the lead image are the winners of the MoneySurge competition at Money20/20 Middle East. Images courtesy of Money20/20. 

This article first appeared in the November 2025 issue of Inc. Arabia. To read the full issue online, click here.