Dubai UAE: In the era of digitization and the need for increased financing post Covid19 especially for the Small and Medium Sized sectors, a trusted deal making digital platform dubbed Maksab has officially launched. Maksab is an easy-to-use platform that makes it possible for corporate advisors and consultants to serve and assist SMEs with streamlined deal-making through exclusive emerging transactions and efficient management features.

Maksab connects advisors and private professional investors with SMEs that are seeking growth capital in a virtual environment. The platform is developed for corporate finance consultants and transaction agents known as (“Advisors”), SME business owners (“Sell-Side”) and private investors (“Buy-Side”).

The Maksab Platform leverages the Ethereum blockchain to allow confidential, secure, streamlined, efficient and reliable transactions between platform users by deploying Ethereum-based ERC-20 smart contract. The smart contract allows for Maksab tokens (MXAB) to be utilized on the network as a bridge currency and anti-spam mechanism to manage and close deals in a B2B environment.

“By adopting blockchain as an underlying transaction protocol and using the internet’s existing communication protocols, we allow deal-makers to facilitate B2B transactions in a streamlined and more efficient way. The deals that would usually take 8 to 12 months to close, can now take weeks or even days”, said Mohamed El-Masri, Founder, Maksab.

El-Masri, a corporate finance expert and social entrepreneur continued, “Maksab platform creates an opportunity to widely address the significant funding gap that SMEs are facing. This mechanism has never been possible before in the history of private capital markets.”

The platform allows SMEs to get access to qualified resources that assist them in accelerating the growth of their businesses. With the launch of Maksab, professional advisors and consultants can now support, consult, guide and prescribe growth strategies to entrepreneurs and their management teams.  

El-Masri concludes, “In the end, Maksab is all about community, users can earn rewards in the form of MXAB tokens for their participation and support of SMEs”.

Ends

  • MENA based startups have raised over US$659 million in the first half of 2020, a 35% increase compared to last year, the number of investment deals dropped by 8% for the same period, worst being the months of March and April.
  • An increase in later stage investments with larger round sizes which shows interest of investors in established companies rather than startups.
  • Small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) in MENA have historically lacked access to traditional bank lending opportunities which only accounted for 7% of bank lending, the lowest in the world. According to the Arab Monetary Fund, while SMEs make up 80% of businesses in the Arab region, only one in five has a loan or line of credit. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates the SME funding gap in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to be around US$260 billion.
  • Post Covid-19, a spur of new funding mechanisms for SMEs are emerging, examples of which include P2P lending (Peer-to-peer), Sharia compliant bonds (Sukuks), profit sharing agreements, and crowd funding. Additionally, the region is witnessing increased mega funding, through sovereign wealth funds and initiatives being deployed in UAE and Saudi Arabia. One example is Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) aimed at investing in venture capital and private equity funds geared towards small businesses.
  • Dubai SME announced that in 2019 along 3,871 Emirati entrepreneurs benefited from the start-up advisory services of Dubai SME, with nearly AED 170 million of exemptions and incentives to launch and grow businesses in diverse sectors. Overall, local entrepreneurs received over AED 630 million worth of incentives and support from Dubai SME since its inception in 2002. The total number of Emirati entrepreneurs supported to date by Dubai SME also increased to 38,565 by the end of 2019.
  • According to Ali Maabreh, Head of M&A at KPMG in Saudi Arabia, “Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are expected to increase amid the Covid-19 pandemic as small and medium enterprises, and several large corporates will look for equity via capital injections to satisfy working capital needs.”

About Maksab:

Maksab is a blockchain enabled digital platform that aims to promote high growth opportunities via a virtual smart deal making marketplace. This allows global investors to access exclusive market deals. By cultivating a trusted deal making network, SMEs can improve transparency and uphold the integrity & confidentiality of regional private markets.

Global investors, holding companies, family offices and high net worth individuals have mandates that fall under a list of strict criteria. Maksab consultants take significant time to assess each mandate to meet the criteria and risk appetite of each party, making sure to source quality and relevant deal flow by implementing a rigorous prospecting strategy. For more information visit www.maksab.io  or email contact@maksab.io 

Send us your press releases to pressrelease.zawya@refinitiv.com

© Press Release 2020

Disclaimer: The contents of this press release was provided from an external third party provider. This website is not responsible for, and does not control, such external content. This content is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and has not been edited in any way. Neither this website nor our affiliates guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions expressed in this press release.

The press release is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Neither this website nor our affiliates shall be liable for any errors or inaccuracies in the content, or for any actions taken by you in reliance thereon. You expressly agree that your use of the information within this article is at your sole risk.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, this website, its parent company, its subsidiaries, its affiliates and the respective shareholders, directors, officers, employees, agents, advertisers, content providers and licensors will not be liable (jointly or severally) to you for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, incidental, punitive or exemplary damages, including without limitation, lost profits, lost savings and lost revenues, whether in negligence, tort, contract or any other theory of liability, even if the parties have been advised of the possibility or could have foreseen any such damages.