Funding Souq Secures Strategic Investment from Foodics

We're pleased to share an important milestone in our journey: Funding Souq has secured a strategic investment from Foodics, the leading restaurant operations and financial technology platform in MENA.

For us, this is more than an investment round. It is a strong vote of confidence in our mission to make Shariah-compliant SME financing more accessible, more seamless, and more closely connected to the platforms businesses already use every day.

If you've been following the growth of embedded finance in the region, you already know the direction of travel. Capital is moving closer to the point of need. Businesses want speed. They want relevance. They want financing that fits the rhythm of their operations, not a process that slows them down. That is exactly where this partnership comes in 🤝

Foodics joins this round as a major investor, and together we are building a stronger foundation for SME financing in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

By combining our regulated financing infrastructure with Foodics' technology, data, and deep reach across the restaurant and hospitality sector, we are opening the door to a new generation of financing solutions that are smarter, faster, and more embedded in daily business activity.

That combination matters because SME financing works best when it understands the business behind the numbers. A restaurant does not operate like a retail shop. A café does not move like a logistics company.

A cloud kitchen has its own pace, its own cash flow patterns, and its own financing needs. When financing is designed with that reality in mind, it becomes more useful, more accurate, and far easier to access.

Together, we are creating a model where financing can be delivered with better context and better timing. That means less friction for merchants and better decision-making for lenders and investors.

Through this partnership, we are unlocking new embedded financing opportunities starting with Foodics' network of tech-enabled restaurant merchants. These businesses generate real-time sales and performance data, which helps us assess credit more intelligently and tailor financing solutions to how they actually operate.

That matters because traditional financing often asks businesses to fit into rigid boxes. Embedded finance does the opposite. It meets the business where it already is.

So instead of asking merchants to step away from their workflow, gather endless paperwork, and wait through long approval cycles, we can bring financing into the ecosystem itself. Cleaner process. Faster decisions. Better fit. That's the kind of shift SMEs have been waiting for 💪

One of the most exciting outcomes of this partnership is that it has already delivered Saudi Arabia's first fully automated business loan.

That is a meaningful step forward for the market. By combining Foodics' deep merchant reach with our regulated financing infrastructure, we can now deliver capital to merchants at the exact moment they need it — with no unnecessary friction and no avoidable delays.

For a business owner, timing is everything. A supplier payment is due. Inventory needs to be restocked. A seasonal opportunity appears. A machine breaks down. In moments like these, financing should feel like a support system, not a hurdle.

This is where automation becomes powerful. It helps reduce manual steps, shortens the path from need to funding, and creates a smoother borrowing experience for SMEs. It also shows that embedded finance is not just a future concept. It is already working in the market.

The opportunity is large. Many SMEs still face the same familiar barriers:

• slow approvals,
• limited access to working capital,
• financing products that do not match their business cycle,
• and a lack of data-driven credit assessment.

Foodics intends to deploy USD 100 million in financing through Capital 2.0 in its first year. That is a serious commitment, and it reflects a shared belief that access to capital should be embedded directly within the technology ecosystems SMEs use every day.

For us, this alignment is important. It means the partnership is not only about investment. It is about building a stronger financial services layer for merchants, one that combines technology, data, and regulated financing in a way that feels seamless.

When the platform understands the merchant, and the financing engine understands the platform, the result is a much better experience for the customer. Simple as that.

"We're delighted to partner with Foodics. Together we have created Saudi Arabia's first fully automated business loan, bringing Foodics' deep reach across the restaurant and hospitality sector together with our regulated financing infrastructure to deliver capital to merchants the moment they need it.

It also marks an important acceleration of our embedded finance journey, one we intend to extend across every sector where SMEs are underserved, in both Saudi Arabia and the UAE."

"Funding Souq has built a strong financing platform with significant potential to scale and serve a broader segment of SMEs. We see this investment as an opportunity to support the company's next phase of growth, while also bringing together Funding Souq's financing capabilities and Foodics' technology ecosystem to expand financing services and make access to capital more seamless for our customers."

We have built a community of more than 10,000 investors on our platform, and we are on track to facilitate USD 1 billion in financing for SMEs over the next three years. That growth reflects the trust we have earned from investors and the demand we continue to see for Shariah-compliant private credit solutions across the region.

Our platform is designed to serve both sides of the market:

• SMEs that need flexible and accessible financing,
• and investors looking for disciplined opportunities with strong risk management.

Since inception, we have delivered market-leading net returns to private credit investors with a low single-digit default rate. That combination of performance, structure, and trust is what continues to power our expansion.

We run two verticals:

• a Marketplace that connects SMEs with institutional and retail private credit investors,
• and an Infrastructure vertical that provides a regulated gateway to finance SMEs in Saudi Arabia.

We offer term loans, invoice finance, and supplier finance, all through Shariah-compliant structures. Since inception, we have delivered market-leading net returns to private credit investors with a low single-digit default rate.

Founded in 2014, Foodics serves businesses across the restaurant and hospitality sector — from traditional dine-in restaurants, cafés, quick-service restaurants, bakeries, and food trucks to cloud kitchens and non-food micro-retailers.

The company has processed more than 6 billion orders through its platform and raised a record US$170 million in its Series C round, making it one of the leading SaaS companies in the region.

This partnership is a strong signal of where SME financing is heading. Faster. Smarter. More embedded. More useful for the businesses that keep the region moving.

For us, the message is clear: when financing lives closer to the merchant, it becomes easier to access and more relevant to real business needs. That is the future we are building with Foodics across Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

And if you're an SME owner, investor, or ecosystem partner, here's the question worth asking: how much easier could growth become when capital shows up inside the tools you already use? 🤔

We'll keep building toward that answer.