"A small step in a long journey": a first investment from the United Arab Emirates in Israeli high-tech
The Israeli fintech company Salario raised $ 5.8 million - the private equity and venture capital fund KEN Investments from the United Arab Emirates invested hundreds of thousands of dollars; CEO Yair Levy: "It took us a long time to complete the deal due to concerns about the transfer of funds from Dubai to Israel"
Meir Orbach 06: 5809.09.20
Tags: UAESalaryVayer Loifintech
The Israeli fintech company Salaryo, which provides credit and digital banking services to small businesses in the United States, raised $ 5.8 million. Some of the money was raised as a debt and some as an investment in the company for a percentage. Salario refused to list how much debt she raised, but is estimated to be the main component in the raise.
Read more in Calcalist:
"The agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates could be an opening for cooperation in the field of solar energy"
Coming soon: A business delegation from the Emirates will visit Israel
The business potential of the agreement with the UAE
For all the latest reports: Join the Telegram of the Technology Channel
The capital component was led by the private equity fund and venture capital KEN Investments from the UAE, which has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the deal itself. It is estimated that this is the first investment in Israel by a fund based in the Emirates - and is not afraid to disclose it.
Also participating in the round were British venture capitalist Michael Ullman and American Techstars, of which Salario was part of its accelerator and is now raising from the accelerator fund. The debt component was provided by the Variant Investments Fund, also from the United States.
In a conversation with Calcalist, Yair Levy, CEO and co-founder of Salario, says of the connection to the fund from the Emirates: "We reached the fund through one of our investors. "Unfortunately, we have not been there yet and all the negotiations were conducted by digital means."
Levy points out that the fund had no problem investing in an Israeli company, and for her it was mainly a pure business investment. He said, "The fund had no problem at the business level, and the big challenge was the technical challenge. It took us a long time to complete the deal because of concerns about transferring funds from Dubai to Israel."
Yair Levy
Yair Levy
Photo: Salaryo
He believes the fundraising opens a door for him to the financial world in the Emirates: "A big part of our field of loans is access to sources of credit and money. It is a small step in a long journey and acquaintance within the emirates. The emerging peace agreement helped us a lot. "Unfortunately, the technical failure at the level of the transfer of funds has not yet been resolved."
Levy added that "the potential inherent in connecting Israeli technological innovation to the international financial center of the Emirates is endless. This is a first-of-its-kind investment, and I anticipate more deals in the near future."
KEN Investments from the UAE has been investing in companies in Europe and Asia for more than 15 years, mainly in growth companies in B2B and B2C channels in e-commerce, fintech and inshortech. Most of the company's deals are in the range of between $ 100,000 and $ 1 million. The fund has offices in Dubai, Germany, Japan and Taiwan.
Its current investment portfolio includes over 20 companies, after several successful exits.
"It took us a while to close the investment," said Cantaro William, CEO of KEN Investments. "This is the first time we are investing in Israeli technology, and Salario is turning to a large and rapidly growing market segment of small businesses in the United States."
Dubai
Dubai
Photo: Getty Images
Salario, founded in 2017 and employs 10 people, notes that the purpose of the recruitment is to accelerate its growth and expansion in the American market. The current capital raising brings the company's total raising to $ 12 million in capital and debt.
Salario operates in the broad field of loans and credit for small businesses and has many competitors even from Israel, such as Blue Wayne and Fundbox, which are much larger than it is. "We have been active since 2018 and have already given credit to hundreds of businesses with $ 60 million," Levy said.
The investment will be used to support Salario's market strategy as it continues to expand into other areas of digital banking for small businesses.
The company's technology enables receipt of requests, background checks and credit delivery in a matter of minutes through the use of KYC (Know Your Client) modules, financial and business risk management, digital signing of contracts, verification and billing of means of payment.
According to Levy, "The investment is a significant milestone for Salario, turning it into a niche player for a small business digital bank against the backdrop of the Corona epidemic.
Kurt Fintel, managing partner at Variant Investments, said: "The corona plague has accelerated the digitization process in the financial services sector. Fintech companies like Salario are providing opportunities to generate alternative returns in a rapidly changing environment. Unconventional. "
www.calcalist.co.il
The Israeli fintech company Salario raised $ 5.8 million - the private equity and venture capital fund KEN Investments from the United Arab Emirates invested hundreds of thousands of dollars; CEO Yair Levy: "It took us a long time to complete the deal due to concerns about the transfer of funds from Dubai to Israel"
Meir Orbach 06: 5809.09.20
Tags: UAESalaryVayer Loifintech
The Israeli fintech company Salaryo, which provides credit and digital banking services to small businesses in the United States, raised $ 5.8 million. Some of the money was raised as a debt and some as an investment in the company for a percentage. Salario refused to list how much debt she raised, but is estimated to be the main component in the raise.
Read more in Calcalist:
"The agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates could be an opening for cooperation in the field of solar energy"
Coming soon: A business delegation from the Emirates will visit Israel
The business potential of the agreement with the UAE
For all the latest reports: Join the Telegram of the Technology Channel
The capital component was led by the private equity fund and venture capital KEN Investments from the UAE, which has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the deal itself. It is estimated that this is the first investment in Israel by a fund based in the Emirates - and is not afraid to disclose it.
Also participating in the round were British venture capitalist Michael Ullman and American Techstars, of which Salario was part of its accelerator and is now raising from the accelerator fund. The debt component was provided by the Variant Investments Fund, also from the United States.
In a conversation with Calcalist, Yair Levy, CEO and co-founder of Salario, says of the connection to the fund from the Emirates: "We reached the fund through one of our investors. "Unfortunately, we have not been there yet and all the negotiations were conducted by digital means."
Levy points out that the fund had no problem investing in an Israeli company, and for her it was mainly a pure business investment. He said, "The fund had no problem at the business level, and the big challenge was the technical challenge. It took us a long time to complete the deal because of concerns about transferring funds from Dubai to Israel."
Yair Levy
Yair Levy
Photo: Salaryo
He believes the fundraising opens a door for him to the financial world in the Emirates: "A big part of our field of loans is access to sources of credit and money. It is a small step in a long journey and acquaintance within the emirates. The emerging peace agreement helped us a lot. "Unfortunately, the technical failure at the level of the transfer of funds has not yet been resolved."
Levy added that "the potential inherent in connecting Israeli technological innovation to the international financial center of the Emirates is endless. This is a first-of-its-kind investment, and I anticipate more deals in the near future."
KEN Investments from the UAE has been investing in companies in Europe and Asia for more than 15 years, mainly in growth companies in B2B and B2C channels in e-commerce, fintech and inshortech. Most of the company's deals are in the range of between $ 100,000 and $ 1 million. The fund has offices in Dubai, Germany, Japan and Taiwan.
Its current investment portfolio includes over 20 companies, after several successful exits.
"It took us a while to close the investment," said Cantaro William, CEO of KEN Investments. "This is the first time we are investing in Israeli technology, and Salario is turning to a large and rapidly growing market segment of small businesses in the United States."
Dubai
Dubai
Photo: Getty Images
Salario, founded in 2017 and employs 10 people, notes that the purpose of the recruitment is to accelerate its growth and expansion in the American market. The current capital raising brings the company's total raising to $ 12 million in capital and debt.
Salario operates in the broad field of loans and credit for small businesses and has many competitors even from Israel, such as Blue Wayne and Fundbox, which are much larger than it is. "We have been active since 2018 and have already given credit to hundreds of businesses with $ 60 million," Levy said.
The investment will be used to support Salario's market strategy as it continues to expand into other areas of digital banking for small businesses.
The company's technology enables receipt of requests, background checks and credit delivery in a matter of minutes through the use of KYC (Know Your Client) modules, financial and business risk management, digital signing of contracts, verification and billing of means of payment.
According to Levy, "The investment is a significant milestone for Salario, turning it into a niche player for a small business digital bank against the backdrop of the Corona epidemic.
Kurt Fintel, managing partner at Variant Investments, said: "The corona plague has accelerated the digitization process in the financial services sector. Fintech companies like Salario are providing opportunities to generate alternative returns in a rapidly changing environment. Unconventional. "
"צעד קטן במסע ארוך": השקעה ראשונה מאיחוד האמירויות בהייטק הישראלי
חברת הפינטק הישראלית סלאריו גייסה 5.8 מיליון דולר - קרן הפרייבט אקוויטי וההון סיכון KEN Investments מאיחוד האמירויות השקיעה מאות אלפי דולרים; המנכ"ל יאיר לוי: "לקח לנו הרבה זמן להשלים את העסקה בגלל החששות לגבי העברת כספים מדובאי לישראל"
