Safqah Capital, a Riyadh-based fintech and proptech platform, secured $15.2 million in one of Saudi Arabia's largest-ever pure equity seed rounds. Led by Shorooq, anb Seed Fund, and Rua Growth Fund, the investment included participation from a wide group of institutional backers such as Sharaka Capital, 500 Global, and MEVP. The platform operates as a digital "operating system" for real estate development, providing Shariah-compliant debt financing specifically for small and medium-sized (SME) developers—a segment typically underserved by traditional banking.
“Banks were not built for developers — we were,” said Abdullah Alsubaie, Safqah’s Co-Founder and CEO. “We’ve engineered an ecosystem where developers can access capital faster, accelerate project delivery, and improve capital efficiency while strengthening monitoring and risk controls for all stakeholders.”
Strong early traction with zero defaults
Since its launch 18 months ago, the company has financed more than 70 projects with an aggregate value exceeding $800 million. Safqah maintains a zero-default record to date, utilizing a milestone-based disbursement framework and high collateralization rates of over 248%. The platform integrates structured financing, underwriting, and AI-driven monitoring to help developers move from planning to execution with transparency and speed.
Backed by institutional investors and aligned with Vision 2030
“Safqah is not another lending platform — it’s foundational infrastructure,” said Shane Shin, Founding Partner at Shorooq. “They’ve built a model designed for the pace of development in Saudi Arabia while meeting regulatory standards and the expectations of institutional investors. We see Safqah Capital becoming an indispensable part of the country’s real estate machine.”
The founding team includes CEO Abdullah Alsubaie, CBO Karim Merie, CFO Abdulmalik Alothman, and CTO Omar Alessa. With the new capital, Safqah plans to enhance its digital platform by developing sophisticated AI tools for risk assessment and underwriting, while expanding its financing capacity to support the Kingdom's $1.1 trillion real estate pipeline in alignment with Vision 2030.