The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has licensed Forusand and Tameed, the two finance companies specialised in debt-based crowdfunding, state-owned SPA news agency reported. 

The licenses were granted to the two fintechs after successfully testing their solutions in SAMA’s regulatory sandbox, an experimental environment dedicated to the kingdom’s innovative financial products and services.

The initiative is part of the central bank’s efforts to bolster the finance sector and promote innovators and investors who can bring added value to the industry.

Launched in May 2022, the Fintech Strategy aims to make Saudi Arabia a leading country in fintech and Riyadh a global tech hub. The strategy is working towards having 525 fintech companies by 2030.

In November 2022, fintech funding reached SAR 1.508 billion ($402 million) from September 2021 to August 2022, up 11% from last year, according to Fintech Saudi’s annual report.

(Editing by Seban Scaria seban.scaria@lseg.com )