Riyadh-based Abwab.ai has raised SR15 million ($4 million) in a seed round led by European venture capital firm Speedinvest, with participation from Middle East Venture Partners. The company said the investment marks Speedinvest’s first investment in Saudi Arabia.
Abwab.ai, founded in 2023, provides AI-powered lending infrastructure that enables banks, finance companies and other lenders to automate and scale SME lending rather than lending directly to businesses. Its platform covers the full lending cycle, including onboarding and origination, credit assessment, disbursement, servicing, billing, collections and recovery.
Financial institutions using Abwab.ai’s technology have processed more than SR10 billion in SME loans across more than 10 institutions in the Kingdom. The company’s customers include Abdul Latif Jameel Finance, Kafalah, Hala and Lendo.
Abwab.ai and Saudi SME finance
Baraa Koshak, founder and CEO of Abwab.ai, said: “Saudi Arabia has already made significant progress in expanding SME finance. The next stage is about giving financial institutions the infrastructure to continue that growth efficiently.” He added: “Speedinvest’s investment is a testament that our technology, while built in Riyadh, solves a global issue, which is quick access to credit for SMEs.”
The fundraising comes as Saudi Arabia aims under Vision 2030 to raise the contribution of SMEs to GDP to 35 percent by 2030 from a baseline of around 20 percent. The country had more than 1.7 million SMEs, employing about 8.8 million people and contributing 22.9 percent of GDP in 2024, the company noted.
Abwab.ai said smaller business loans have historically required heavy manual assessment and servicing, making them costly for lenders to handle at volume. Rather than lending directly to businesses, Abwab.ai supplies the technology that allows lenders to assess, serve and manage significantly more businesses. The development also comes after the Saudi Cabinet in March designated 2026 the Year of AI, placing greater emphasis on AI adoption across economic sectors and the development of a data- and AI-driven economy.
