News

Dubai-Based Startup Alfii Raises $2.5 Million In Seed Funding

The significant investment will be used to build new engineering solutions for the company’s FinTech-powered human resource automation platform.

Published

2 years ago

July 6, 2023

Nour Nasir

Alfii

After launching in November 2022, Dubai-based startup Alfii has raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding as the company seeks to expand its team and develop its product offering.

Alfii is a cloud-based HR automation platform where users can set up a company profile, invite employees, and begin managing documents, employee data, payroll, and more.

The latest funding round was overseen by US-based venture capital company Preface Ventures, as well as Dubai-based Aditum Ventures, Kayan Ventures, and Wayfinders.

“With Alfii’s all-in-one software suite, companies will be able to better understand and manage their human capital resources while improving the user experience for employees with features like digital-to-cash remittances, benefits selection,” says Farooq Abbasi, general partner of Preface Ventures.

With funding now secured, Alfii plans to build a suite of payroll features to provide users with “smarter, faster ways to manage payroll and salary disbursements, drastically simplifying a process that is typically tedious and time-consuming for HR owners,” the company explained.

Also Read: Saudi Arabia’s NOMU Secures $5 Million For Expansion Plans

“We are looking to build the next generation of this product class, and we are building it entirely in-house – which means we need to bring on world-class talent to grow our business and better serve our customers,” added Yousef Albarqawi, Alfii co-founder and chief executive.

The tech startup plans to gradually introduce a whole suite of new features for HR processes, including onboarding, time-tracking, and leave management. Eventually, the Alfii platform will cover the entire employee life cycle.

Since its launch, more than 250 businesses have signed up to Alfii in the MENA region. Customers are currently spread across countries, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, with the UAE comprising the bulk of the customer base.

News

Stake Powers Instant Payouts With Checkout.com Pay To Card

The new feature lets investors in the UAE, KSA, and UK receive real estate returns in minutes — cutting withdrawal times to under 10 minutes.

Published

2 days ago

June 19, 2025

Nour Nasir

stake powers instant payouts with checkout.com pay to card

Stake, a leading digital real estate investment platform, has unveiled Pay to Card, a next-generation withdrawal feature built on Checkout.com’s global payment infrastructure. The integration enables investors to have dividends and returns credited directly to their bank cards — often within minutes — dramatically reducing the traditional multi-day payout process.

After a successful pilot in May involving over 200 users, some investors reported receiving their funds in under 10 minutes. Ricardo Brizido, CPTO and Co-Founder of Stake, emphasized the importance of speed and reliability: “With Pay to Card, we’re eliminating unnecessary delays and putting returns in our investors’ hands almost instantly. This feature was built to directly solve one of the most common pain points in real estate investing, and it’s already driving strong results”.

The feature launch coincides with rapid growth in real-time finance across the Middle East. Checkout.com’s “State of Digital Commerce in MENA 2025” report highlights a 388% year-on-year surge in Account Funding Transactions (AFTs) in the UAE, reflecting strong demand for immediate payout solutions. The same study recorded a 176% increase in total processing volume from 2023 to 2024 and noted that daily online transactions have jumped 320% since 2020.

Since its 2021 debut, Stake has facilitated over AED 1 billion in property transactions, advancing its mission to democratize real estate investment in high-growth markets. By integrating Pay to Card, Stake reinforces its commitment to customer-centric innovation and operational transparency.

Also Read: Binance Enters Syrian Market As Sanctions Lifted

Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, General Manager for MENA at Checkout.com, praised the collaboration: “Stake has always led with customer-first financial experiences. Together, we’re meeting the expectations of a region that is no longer just digital-first, but real-time-first. Pay to Card exemplifies how modern payment infrastructure can directly solve investor pain points”.

Pay to Card is now available to all Stake users in the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. By slashing withdrawal times from days to minutes, Stake and Checkout.com are setting a new standard for seamless, on-demand real estate investing.