(Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. is extending $500 million to a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi’s Astra Tech, marking one of the largest single financing facilities secured by a United Arab Emirates-based fintech firm.
Quantix Technology Projects, which operates the CashNow consumer lending platform, received the asset-backed securitization financing from Citi, the bank said in a statement.
The money will help Astra Tech’s attempts to build a so-called super app that handles everything from digital payments to instant messaging. As part of those efforts, the firm last year acquired the Middle East’s most popular voice-calling app, Botim, for an undisclosed sum.
Fintechs in the region have increasingly been able to attract international banks’ support. Saudi Arabia-based buy-now-pay-later firm Tabby late last year bolstered its balance sheet with an asset-backed credit line of as much as $700 million from JPMorgan Chase & Co. Its peer, Tamara, has secured backing from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
“The fintech sector is undergoing a rapid transformation, attracting significant global investment,” said Tariq Bin Hendi, board member and managing director of Astra Tech. “The GCC, and particularly the UAE, continues to exhibit strong growth despite global macroeconomic challenges,” he said.
Astra Tech was founded in 2022 by Abdallah Abu Sheikh, an entrepreneur who previously set up an online platform selling cleaning services and Covid tests. He recently stepped down from the firm, which has previously secured $500 million from investors including Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence firm G42.
Citi said Quantix possesses a strong balance sheet and a fast-growing, diverse offering of lending products. The company recently became the first UAE-based fintech since 2008 to receive a Finance Company License from the country’s Central Bank.
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