UAE-Based InvestSky Expands Into Saudi Arabia After US$4 Million Seed Round

UAE-based fintech InvestSky has expanded into Saudi Arabia after securing a financial technology experimental permit from the Capital Market Authority (CMA), with the move backed by a partnership with KSA-based investment firm anb Capital that enables the platform to provide retail investors in the Kingdom with regulated access to both US and local equities. 

The company's entry into Saudi Arabia comes on the back of a US$4 million seed round backed by Saudi venture capital (VC) firm Emkan, German and Irish-based Fintech accelerator Run Ventures, and US-based S3 Ventures by Joa Capital, alongside Saudi Arabia-based Al-Romaizan Family Office and other regional investors. The round brings the total investment InvestSky has secured to $7.4 million, with the company planning to use the capital to broaden market access, scale its Saudi operations, and enhance its product offering for retail investors across the Middle East and North Africa. 

Founded by Nitish Mittal and Turki Alalshaikh in the UAE in 2021, InvestSky operates a social trading platform designed to make investing more accessible to retail investors in the region. Speaking to Inc. Arabia, Mittal reflected on the gap that led to the company’s creation/“The idea was born from a simple observation: retail investors in the Middle East don’t have access to the same tools and platforms that people in the US or Europe take for granted," he said. "Existing solutions were either costly, overly complex, or not designed with the region in mind. Today, with operations in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, InvestSky’s mission remains as bold as ever: to make investing accessible, affordable, and social for everyone in the region.” 

That approach,  Alalshaikh added, informed how the InvestSky platform was built and the role the community plays within it. “Social trading is about making investing a shared experience rather than something people do in isolation," Alalshaikh explained. "On InvestSky, users can see what the community is investing in, follow other investors, share insights, and learn from each other in real time. It’s about transparency, learning, and making informed decisions. Users can view real portfolios and performance, empowering them to invest with confidence, not in a vacuum. The appeal in the MENA is significant, because the region has a very young, digitally native population that's already used to social platforms for everything else. Investing shouldn't be any different.” 

Commenting on InvestSky's seed round, Alshaikh said that investor conviction was driven by both market dynamics and execution capability. “It was a combination of factors," he said. "Investors saw a clear gap, there was no social trading platform in the MENA. But beyond the market opportunity, they saw a team that understood the region deeply and had the technical capability to build something from scratch in a heavily regulated space.” 

With Saudi Arabia now part of the company’s scope, InvestSky is positioning itself for a longer-term regional play shaped by demographic shifts and regulatory change. “The next few years will likely see a massive shift in how people in this part of the world think about investing," Mittal said. "A much younger demographic is entering the market, and they'll expect a very different experience than what traditional brokerages offer, mobile-first, community-driven, and low-friction. That's exactly what InvestSky is building. The regulatory environment across the region is also evolving in a way that supports fintech innovation, and the CMA's experimental permit framework in Saudi is a strong example of that." 

Pictured in the lead image is a scene from the signing ceremony between InvestSky and its partners. Image courtesy InvestSky.