Fintech Startup UPFRONT Secures $10M to Tackle MENA’s Cash Flow Crisis

Malaz Madani

Last updated 1-10-2025

4 min

UPFRONT secured $10 million to tackle cash flow issues for small businesses in MENA.

The fintech startup links with accounting tools for real-time insights and faster payments.

Backers include Palm Ventures and SABAH fund, recognising delayed receivables as a major hindrance.

Partnerships like CredibleX offer flexibility with different liquidity products.

The fresh capital supports hiring and expansion into Saudi Arabia's fintech market.

Cash flow headaches are nothing new for small and medium businesses across the region, but Dubai-based fintech UPFRONT thinks it’s cracked a smarter way forward. The startup has just bagged a hefty $10 million pre-seed round – a mix of equity and debt – to sharpen its tools and expand in the UAE before setting sights on Saudi Arabia. Not bad at all for a company launched only this past May.

The funding was led by Palm Ventures and SABAH.fund, with backing from a cluster of angel investors who clearly saw the gap UPFRONT is aiming to fill. If you’ve ever spent time working with SMBs in MENA – as we often do here at Arageek – you’ll know cash flow delays are often the silent killer. Invoices stack up, receivables drag on, and before you know it growth plans are shelved. It’s a bit of a faff, really.

UPFRONT’s founding trio – Anas Qudah, Abdullah Alghadouni, and Mahmoud Abdel-Fattah Moursy – aren’t rookies either. Their careers touched some of the region’s better-known tech names: Careem, Dubizzle, Property Finder, Nana, and Cartona. They say the new platform works as a “financial operating system,” linking with accounting tools to provide real-time insights, cut manual work, and speed up payments. Think fewer sleepless nights wondering if payroll will clear.

Qudah, the CEO, pointed out that cash flow blockage remains the biggest bottleneck for SMBs here. His words ring true – I remember chatting with a baker in Amman who said waiting 90 days for payments from retailers nearly sank his business. Spot on example of what UPFRONT hopes to fix.

Investors think so too. Palm Ventures’ Radwan Abudawood said fintech in Saudi is hitting an inflection point and framed UPFRONT as a team ready to solve foundational gaps. SABAH.fund’s Abbas Kazmi took it further, calling delayed receivables an “invisible tax” on regional businesses. Strong language, but I reckon he’s right – it bleeds margins quietly until one day it’s too late.

The numbers are staggering: according to UPFRONT itself, the funding gap for SMEs in MENA is around $250 billion, spanning industries from food and beverages to manufacturing. For a region that likes to talk about diversification and startup growth, that’s a massive hurdle.

To its credit, UPFRONT is already securing partnerships, including a tie-up with embedded finance group CredibleX, which should give it flexibility to offer different liquidity products. And while it’s early days, pulling in global and regional backers within six months is nothing to sneeze at.

The fresh capital will be channelled into hiring engineers and sales staff, so expect to see more noise from UPFRONT as it goes deeper in the UAE and expands into Saudi Arabia’s increasingly busy fintech scene. Execution will be the real test – fancy dashboards are one thing, but keeping businesses afloat when invoices lag is another.

On the flip side, not everyone is a fan of over-financialising SMEs – some argue simpler banking reforms or more transparent payment terms could help just as much. That said, in a region where payment delays are baked into the system, platforms like this might just be a lifeline. And if it helps local entrepreneurs sleep easier, well… I mean, who’s going to complain about that?

If you ask me, the real measure will come in a year or two when we see whether UPFRONT has genuinely sped up cash cycles for the butcher, the grocer, and the manufacturer – the everyday businesses that keep the region ticking. Until then, they’ve got fresh capital, bold promises, and, hopefully, a bit of grit to match.

(And yes, I’m chuffed to bits when I spot MENA startups going after meaty, unglamorous problems like this – it feels like proper impact, even if it might not always make the headlines.)

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