Zelo Secures $715M to Revolutionise Middle East Supply-Chain Financing

Zelo has caught plenty of attention this week after securing a hefty 715 million dollars from its parent company, IHC, to boost its supply‑chain financing solutions across the Middle East. I remember chatting with a few founders at an Arageek gathering earlier this year, and many of them complained that waiting months for invoice payments was “a bit of a faff,” especially when they were trying to scale. So this kind of move feels spot on for a region where cash flow can make or break a young business.

The funding is one of the largest commitments seen in the B2B financing space here, and it signals a growing appetite for alternative credit models. Zelo works by turning outstanding invoices—whether from government entities, major corporates or regional institutions—into near‑instant liquidity for suppliers. Instead of sitting around waiting for long payment cycles, these companies can unlock cash within days, which I reckon could genuinely shift how SMEs operate in high‑pressure sectors like construction or oil and gas.

What’s clever is the mechanism behind it. Zelo converts accounts receivable from major buyers into investable assets in the private‑credit market, opening the door for international institutions to participate. And believe it or not, that matters quite a bit when the region is grappling with an SME financing gap estimated at 250 billion dollars. For suppliers, quicker access to working capital means the chance to take on bigger contracts, hire more people, or simply avoid choking on delayed payments… you know?

Backed by this new injection, Zelo is now setting its sights on hitting a total financing volume of 1 billion dollars by 2026—five times its current scale. The company already works with heavyweights like Emirates Development Bank, Trojan, and NMDC, helping widen its reach across industries from healthcare to consumer goods and maritime services. On the flip side, scaling this fast won’t be without its challenges, but they seem fairly chuffed to bits about where they’re heading.

Sayed Basar Shueb, CEO of IHC, noted that private credit has become one of the fastest‑growing asset classes globally, adding that their commitment reflects confidence in the region’s ability to produce high‑quality institutional credit assets. Meanwhile, Zelo’s CEO, Danush Arjun, described the capital allocation as a pivotal moment for the platform, saying it will support wider expansion across the GCC and the building of scalable financial infrastructure tied to predictable, real‑world economic activity.

For many SMEs I meet around the region, access to capital still feels like climbing a hill with a bag of bricks. If Zelo manages to deliver on these promises, it might just lighten the load. Or so I hope—nothing is ever guaranteed in the financing world, and sometimes things get a bit messy, or should I say mesy.

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