Saudi Arabia-based fintech erad has raised $33 million in debt financing, led by Stride Ventures of India. The deal, finalized during Money20/20 Riyadh, marks Stride’s first major investment in the Kingdom and highlights the growing role of alternative financing in the region.
Closing the SME Credit Gap
SMEs remain the backbone of the Saudi and wider GCC economy, yet they face a credit gap of nearly $250 billion. Erad was founded in 2022 to address this challenge by providing fast, flexible, and Shariah-compliant financing.
Key features of the platform include:
- Funding access in as little as 48 hours.
- Proprietary data-driven risk assessment models.
- Solutions tailored to SMEs across retail, F&B, healthcare, and e-commerce.
Since its launch, erad has already disbursed over $50 million to regional SMEs, with requests exceeding $532 million.
Fueling Expansion Across the GCC
The fresh $33 million injection will be used to:
- Strengthen operations in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
- Scale its Shariah-compliant financing platform.
- Support rising SME demand across priority sectors.
This expansion follows a 5x year-on-year growth milestone and builds on a $16 million pre-Series A round completed in April 2025. This was backed by Y Combinator, Nuwa Capital, and others.
Strategic Backing from Stride Ventures
Stride Ventures, known for its expertise in debt financing, recently doubled its regional team and closed the first stage of its ADGM Fund V. The firm sees the GCC as a prime market for debt financing solutions, which remain relatively untapped compared to equity funding.
Fariha Ansari Javed, Partner at Stride Ventures, stated:
“Debt remains a powerful but underused asset class in the GCC. It allows businesses to grow without equity dilution. Our partnership with erad supports ambitious startups and SMEs with flexible, alternative capital solutions. This investment underscores our commitment to the GCC and to enabling a new generation of enterprises.”
A Shared Vision for SME Growth
Salem Abu-Hammour, Co-founder of erad, highlighted the shared vision between erad and Stride Ventures.
“Access to capital remains one of the biggest challenges for SMEs in the region. We are excited to work with Stride as their first fintech platform in the GCC, enabling us to scale our solutions and deliver capital access at greater speed.”
Outlook
With SME demand accelerating and governments across the GCC prioritizing private sector growth, erad’s model aims to capture a significant share of the financing market. The partnership with Stride Ventures aims to catalyze new opportunities, making debt financing a mainstream option for regional businesses.