UAE-based fintech startup Ziina has secured around $850,000 in a fresh funding round and has also launched a payments app, the media reported.
The funding round for Ziina was led by San Francisco-based Class 5 Global and saw participation from Sami Toukan’s Jabbar Internet Group.
Ziina’s customers can now transfer money instantly to friends and family within the country by submitting a phone number and without details such as IBAN, SWIFT code.
Joel Ayala, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Class 5 Global told the media, “The Middle East has one of the highest rates of smartphone penetration in the world and a young population. However, the economy is still cash-based. It’s tough for people to do simple things like paying their friends. Ziina is taking a Silicon Valley mindset to the region and solving this problem with technology. Class 5 is excited to join Faisal, Sarah, and Andrew in their quest to make peer-to-peer payments seamless and social for consumers in the region.”
Faisal Toukan, the co-founder and chief executive at Ziina said that with several user-centric features, Ziina will redefine the way people in the Middle East think of, interact with and experience financial services.
Founded earlier this year by Faisal Toukan, Sarah Toukan, and Andrew Gold, Ziina’s claims its app is the first licensed social P2P app in the Middle East.
US-based payments giant Mastercard has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hub71, a technology ecosystem based in Abu Dhabi Global Market Square that supports global Fintech initiatives and leading tech firms.