Saudi Fintech Safqah Capital Lands $15.2M Seed Round Led by Shorooq

Saudi-based startup Safqah Capital has secured $15.2 million in an oversubscribed seed round, marking one of the larger early-stage raises in the Kingdom’s emerging real estate finance ecosystem. The round was led by Shorooq, alongside anb Seed Fund and Rua Growth Fund, with participation from investors including Sharaka Capital, 500 Global, Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), Suhail Ventures, Waad Investment, COTU Ventures and JOA Capital.

Founded in 2023, Safqah Capital positions itself as a technology-enabled financing platform focused on small and medium-sized real estate developers in Saudi Arabia. While the Kingdom’s mega-projects often dominate headlines, a significant portion of housing and commercial supply is driven by mid-tier developers who frequently face constraints accessing structured, timely capital through traditional banking channels. Safqah is aiming to close that gap.

Safqah’s core offering is described as a Shariah-compliant debt financing solution designed for small and mid-sized developers, a segment historically underserved by traditional banks. The company is authorized by Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) to offer and enable investment in debt instruments, providing a regulated framework for its operations. This structure is intended to expand access to structured financing while supporting project execution across the Kingdom’s real estate sector.

Over the past 18 months, Safqah reports it has financed more than 70 real estate development projects across Saudi Arabia, representing a cumulative project value exceeding $800 million. The company also states it has maintained a zero-default track record and high collateralization ratios to date. These figures are company-reported and sourced directly from the official announcement.

Abdullah Alsubaie, Co-Founder and CEO of Safqah, said, “Banks were not built for developers we were,” adding, “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.”

Central to that strategy is a technology layer that integrates underwriting, risk assessment, documentation, project monitoring and investor reporting into a unified platform. Safqah says it leverages structured data and artificial intelligence tools to enhance decision-making and risk evaluation. This reflects a broader fintech trend in the Gulf, where financial services are increasingly being rebuilt around software-driven efficiency and real-time analytics.

For investors, the appeal appears twofold. First, real estate development in Saudi Arabia sits at the heart of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 transformation agenda. Second, a data-driven platform offering structured exposure to development projects may provide greater transparency compared to fragmented, relationship-based financing models.

Saudi Arabia’s real estate and infrastructure pipeline has been widely reported to exceed $1 trillion in planned projects, as the country invests heavily in housing, tourism, logistics and urban expansion under Vision 2030. While mega-projects such as NEOM and other giga-developments draw international attention, the execution of thousands of mid-scale projects remains equally important in meeting housing supply targets and urban growth objectives. Safqah’s model is designed to serve this segment.

Shane Shin, Founding Partner at Shorooq, said, “Safqah is not another lending platform it’s foundational infrastructure,” adding, “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.”

Other participating investors emphasized alignment with national priorities. Khalid S. Alghamdi, CEO of anb capital, said, “We are very pleased to co-lead the investment in Safqah, as part of our commitment to supporting technology-enabled financial platforms that contribute to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. Safqah brings together technological innovation and strong credit governance to deliver more efficient and transparent financing solutions for real estate developers across the region. We believe the company is well positioned to support the evolution of the real estate and financial services sectors, enhance capital market efficiency, and contribute to sustainable economic growth in Saudi Arabia.”

Turki Aljoieb, General Partner at Rua, said, “Safqah is unlocking one of the most critical bottlenecks in Saudi Arabia’s real estate market by expanding access to structured, Sharia-compliant financing for small and medium developers. By enabling efficient project execution and scalable housing delivery, Safqah supports national affordability objectives and advances Vision 2030 homeownership targets, while providing investors with disciplined access to long-term, asset-backed exposure to the Kingdom’s real estate sector.”

With fresh capital secured, Safqah plans to further enhance its platform, expand financing capacity and deepen its underwriting capabilities. The company has indicated it will continue investing in AI-driven tools to strengthen risk management and operational oversight. Scaling financing capacity will be key if it intends to support a larger share of Saudi Arabia’s expanding development pipeline.

Growth, however, will bring its own tests. Expanding balance sheet exposure in a capital-intensive sector requires disciplined credit evaluation and strong risk controls, particularly in an environment where interest rate cycles, construction costs and demand patterns can shift. Maintaining its reported zero-default track record while scaling will be closely watched by investors and regulators alike.

At the same time, regulatory oversight from the CMA provides a structured framework within which Safqah operates. As Saudi Arabia continues modernizing its capital markets and encouraging fintech innovation, platforms that combine regulatory compliance with technological efficiency may find themselves well positioned.

Safqah’s seed round underscores how venture capital in the Gulf is increasingly targeting infrastructure-level fintech models rather than consumer-facing applications alone. Instead of building another payments app or trading platform, Safqah is attempting to digitize and systematize a core layer of economic activity: real estate development financing.

The company could become a critical enabler of mid-market project delivery in Saudi Arabia, helping smaller developers access structured capital while giving institutional investors greater visibility into project performance. In a country undergoing one of the world’s most ambitious economic transformations, the quiet work of financial infrastructure may prove just as important as the skyline-defining projects themselves.