Mamo, a Dubai-based Fintech, digital wallet and payments platform, has raised $8M in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Global Ventures, with participation from 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Fintech-focused Silicon Valley investors.
The startup was co-founded by Asim Janjua, Imad Gharazeddine and Mohammad El Saadi, three former Google employees with extensive experience in product design, engineering, marketing, operations and business development. Today, the Mamo team has 12 employees from 10 different nationalities with professional backgrounds from McKinsey and Careem. Some of their advisors include the former GM of Paypal-owned Venmo, Amit Jhawar.
Mamo’s customer-centric Fintech platform allows users to send and receive payments through their smartphone instantly, securely, and free of charge. The company's recently launched service, Mamo Business, allows freelancers and small businesses to receive online payments from their customers, without the burden of expensive and complex gateway and merchant integrations. Registration on the platform typically takes a single day, which the company believes is an enormous improvement over the industry standard of two to three months – a lifeline for small businesses given the current global situation.
In addition to joining Visa's Fast Track Program, the company has also secured principal regulatory approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority to operate under its Innovation Testing License.
Mohammad El Saadi, co-founder at Mamo, commented “Through Mamo, we will support the UAE and MENA in its transition to a digital economy. At Mamo, we want to lead and drive financial independence and inclusion across the greater MENA region. At the core of it, money is a medium of social exchange and we are building the fabric to connect every member of this society together from the well-banked to the unbanked - from small business owners to freelancers and beyond. I’m thrilled to bring our human-first and customer-centric approach to residents and businesses alike in the UAE, while we prepare for our launch in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Basil Moftah, General Partner at Global Ventures, added “It is exciting to see Mamo’s growth and even more so, to be a part of their journey. The regional Fintech space is booming because of innovators like Mamo who are empowering customers and businesses alike, by revolutionizing the ways they traditionally deliver and consume financial services. The start-up is setting the tone for a thriving and innovation-driven financial ecosystem in MENA.”
Mamo will utilise the funds initially to developing its service offerings, increasing utility for its customers, and enhancing its Mamo Business product, in addition to further expanding growth in the UAE and Saudi market, as well as focusing on making strategic new hires to support its expansion.
