The global expense management industry is experiencing something of a tailwind. North America is arguably the largest market in this space, but expense management companies have seen demand increase around the world, thanks to growing Internet penetration, technological advancements, and the increasing focus of companies in making sure you spend wisely.
In fact, the space is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10.3% by 2030, according to Grand View Research, and adoption in other regions such as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will rebound as businesses increasingly adopt expense management tools to get a clearer idea of where their money is going.
Saudi Arabia-based Simplified Financial Solutions Company (sifi), one such expense management platform in the MENA region, has raised $10 million in a seed funding round to double down on its growth plans in its home market. The round was led by Sanabil Investments, a member of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, and early-stage MENA VC, RAED Ventures.
Founded in 2021 by Ahmed Al Hakbani, SiFi helps organizations manage all their expenses, including bill and supplier payments, and is looking to expand its operations after receiving the Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) last year. The company plans to leverage the license to provide a suite of services, including e-wallets and corporate smart cards.
Alhakbani told TechCrunch that he thought about starting SiFi when he was working as the head of customs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He saw firsthand how fragmented expense management was at headquarters and at entry points into the Kingdom, making it doubly difficult to track and control expenses and even leaving room for their misuse.
SiFi's product allows its customers to control the use of their corporate cards and limit expenses at a commercial or geographic level. The platform also allows employees, especially those who do not use corporate cards, to submit reimbursement requests, their expenses and invoices.
Alhakbani said the platform helps companies avoid expense management issues such as human errors, fraud, lack of proper workflows, approval delays and lack of expense visibility. “We believe SiFi could play a very important role in enabling finance departments to be much more effective in their ability to serve the rest of the company. “We want to go beyond expenses and encompass the full set of expense solutions within a company,” he stated.
He said SiFi is building a solution that will expand beyond Saudi Arabia as its technology stack allows it to integrate into any market. However, he noted that the goal will be growth outside Saudi Arabia.
SiFi's competitors in the MENA region include Saudi's Sanad, UAE-based Pemo, which raised a significant seed round in 2022, and Alaan.
Other investors that participated in SiFi's seed round include anb seed, Rua Ventures, Byld and KBW ventures, and existing venture capitalists Khwarizmi Ventures, Seedra Ventures and tech Invest Com.
SiFi joins a growing list of Saudi startups that have raised big money this year, even as venture capitalists scaled back their activity globally. The country continues take the iniciative in terms of venture investment in the MENA region, driven by the government's push to create a favorable environment for innovators and companies as they seek to diversify their sources of income and reduce their dependence on oil.
