Saudi Arabia-Based Safqah Capital Nets US$15.2 Million In Seed Round

Saudi Arabia-based fintech/proptech platform Safqah Capital has raised US$15.2 million in a seed funding roung to scale its Shariah-compliant real estate financing operations and expand its role within the Kingdom’s growing property development market.

The round was led by the MENA-focused multidimensional investment firm Shorooq, alongside anb Seed Fund and Rua Growth Fund, with participation from Sharaka Capital, COTU Ventures, Sadu Capital, 500 Global, Suhail Ventures, Middle East Venture Partners, Waad Invest, JOA Capital, and other investors. Safqah Capital plans to deploy the capital to increase its financing capacity, strengthen its digital platform, and further develop artificial intelligence (AI)-driven underwriting and risk assessment tools. 

Founded by Abdullah Alsubaie, Karim Merie, Abdulmalik Alothman, and Omar Alessa in KSA in 2023, Safqah Capital focuses on providing Shariah-compliant debt financing to small and medium-sized (SME) real estate developers in the Kingdom. Authorized by Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority (CMA), the company enables investment in debt instruments and structures financing linked directly to project milestones and execution timelines. 

In an interview with Inc. Arabia, Alsubaie, co-founder and CEO of Safqah Capital, traced the company’s beginnings to firsthand exposure to those constraints. “Safqah Capital started from a very real problem," he shared. "One of our co-founders was an SME real estate developer who struggled to finance projects through traditional channels. Banks and funds consistently presented roadblocks, and like many SME developers in the market, the fallback option became raising capital from friends and family—an approach that is costly, inefficient, and often pushes developers into legally risky territory.” 

That experience unfolded alongside a broader shift in the Kingdom’s financial ecosystem, shaping how Alsubaie and his co-founders  approached the opportunity. “Saudi Arabia was entering the early phase of its fintech transformation," Alsubaie noted. "We believed there had to be a better, regulated solution. That conviction led us to apply for a CMA license—a process that ultimately took more than three years and tested our patience and commitment."

But as the business took shape, Safqah Capital’s co-founders designed its model to be as much around unlocking access to capital as managing downside. “From day one, Safqah Capital’s mission has been clear: to build the technology and financial infrastructure that enables real estate development," Alsubaie said. "We started with financing, because it was the biggest pain point. As we studied the emerging debt market, we were also conscious that defaults are inevitable if risk is not engineered properly. So, we designed Safqah Capital around disciplined underwriting, asset-backed structures, strong governance, and real-time oversight." 

That approach is reflected in how the Safqah Capital platform operates today, bringing together real estate underwriting, structured financing, and software tools that support funding, monitoring, documentation, and execution. Data analytics and artificial intelligence play an increasing role in project monitoring, risk assessment, and reporting, serving both sides of the marketplace. “Today, Safqah Capital enables developers to access capital faster and more transparently, while offering investors Shariah-compliant, asset-backed opportunities built on institutional-grade risk management,” Alsubaie added. 

Safqah Capital co-founders (from left to right) Karim Merie, Abdullah Alsubaie, Abdulmalik Alothman, and Omar Alessa. 

Over the past 18 months, those foundations have translated into measurable scale. Safqah Capital has financed more than 70 development projects across Saudi Arabia, with a combined project value exceeding $800 million, equivalent to more than SAR3 billion. The company reports no defaults to date, with financing collateralized at more than 248 percent, while its user base has grown to more than 250,000 registered users. Such factors clearly played a part in the company attracting the backers it can boast of today. 

“Investors saw a team they could trust to operate with discipline, transparency, and long-term thinking," Alsubaie pointed out. "That trust was reinforced by how our deal backers and institutional partners engage with us. They see that Safqah Capital operates at a high institutional standard, with a strong technology core that enhances underwriting and monitoring, and governance frameworks that scale responsibly. Combined with the size of the opportunity—with Saudi Arabia facing multi-billion-riyal capex needs in real estate over the coming years—investors saw both execution credibility and a compelling market.” 

Saudi Arabia’s real estate and infrastructure pipeline is estimated at more than $1.1 trillion, as Vision 2030 drives development activity across the Kingdom. Within this environment, many SME developers continue to face pressure to secure capital at a pace aligned with construction and delivery timelines. It is against this backdrop that Safqah Capital is shaping its post-fundraise priorities. “Our immediate focus is on deepening our presence within Saudi Arabia," Alsubaie shared. "The scale of the local real estate and infrastructure pipeline gives us ample room to grow without geographic expansion in the near term. There is significant opportunity to serve more developers, increase ticket sizes, and fund a higher volume of projects within the Kingdom. On the product side, we are doubling down on our underwriting and monitoring technology—making it faster, more intelligent, and more scalable through AI-assisted workflows and market data aggregation."

At the same time, the company is broadening its ambitions beyond capital provision alone. “Beyond financing, we are also expanding along our broader mission of solving structural pain points across the real estate development lifecycle," Alsubaie revealed. "We are introducing multiple products over time to address challenges developers face before, during, and after project execution. Our ambition is to become a critical infrastructure layer that supports the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 housing and development targets." 

Reflecting on how he and his co-founders have steered Safqah Capital to where it is today, Alsubaie shared guidance for other entrepreneurs building in similar spaces across the region. “First, focus on building a strong, committed team early on," he advised. "Things inevitably get harder over time, and you need people who can wear multiple hats, stay resilient, and earn the trust of institutional partners. Second, obsess over unit economics. If the fundamentals don’t work, pivot until they do. Losing money early is not the problem—scaling a broken model is. You must be able to prove that the business can eventually reach sustainable profitability. Finally, avoid scaling too quickly before the foundations are solid. In markets like MENA, risk management, operational depth, and discipline matter far more than speed. The companies that win here are the ones that grow patiently, build trust, and compound execution over time." 

Pictured in the lead image is Safqah Capital co-founder and CEO Abdullah Alsubaie. All images courtesy Safqah Capital.