Saudi-based shariah-compliant fintech firm Lendo has raised 27 million riyals ($7 million) in Series A funding.

Lendo is a crowd-lending marketplace that enables small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to digitally pre-finance their outstanding invoices. 

The Series A round was led by Derayah Ventures, with participation from Seedra, Shorooq Partners, 500 startups, and Impact46

The new funds will be deployed to deepen Lendo’s platform capabilities and expand the product offering with a more sector-focused solution-based approach.

Osama AlRaee, CEO and co-founder of Lendo said: “Since our launch, it is noteworthy that we were able to finance more than 100 invoices worth of more than SAR 60 million to SMEs and give back more than SAR 3,000,000 to our investors in profit, with more profit distribution in the pipeline.”

According to the company, it proved to be critical during the COVID-19 crisis. Whilst the lockdown period presented acute cash burn pressure for most SME businesses as activity levels fell off, Lendo was able to step in and help them maintain sustainable levels of working capital. 

Support from Saudi Arabia’s central bank SAMA has boosted fintech activity in the Kingdom.