Saudi Islamic financier Alinma Bank has formed a fintech partnership with FOODICS to enhance its digital offerings to small business owners and micro businesses in the Kingdom.
The two entities will jointly launch new products to provide autonomy to small business owners over their business decisions in a bid to maximize sales and productivity.
“[The alliance] will enable both FOODICS and Alinma Bank SME customers to be more agile, by digitizing onboarding, giving them better rates as well as enabling daily settlements of customer payments twice a day, which will be a huge advantage to SME owners, given that cash flow is so critical for their growth and sustainability,” explained Ahmad Al Zaini, FOODICS’s CEO and co-founder.
The Islamic bank and payment technology firm are planning to roll out a series of products in the coming months.
FOODICS, which primarily services the food and beverage market, has made Shariah compliant finance a core pillar of its business. The start-up launched a US$100 million Shariah compliant microfinancing fund through its lending arm, FOODICS Capital.
The provider of cloud-based point-of-sale and restaurant management systems has been successful at raising funds every year since it secured a license from the Saudi Central Bank in 2020. Earlier in April it concluded a US$170 million Series C funding round led by Prosus and Public Investment Fund-owned Sanabil Investments, following a US$20 million Series B round in February 2021, bringing its total funds raised to US$198 million.
The fintech company, founded in 2014, is revving up its expansion efforts, as it eyes regional and international presence. In January, it acquired POSRocket, a restaurant cloud technology provider. It plans for further merger and acquisition activities and is eyeing to penetrate the APAC region.
Its growth strategy is fueled by its latest funding round, which will also be channeled toward launching and scaling new initiatives around fintech, microfinancing and supply chain management. It is also looking to expand into non-food micro-retail outlets.