Dubai-based B2B embedded finance platform Comfi has raised $65 million in a pre-Series A round combining equity and debt. The equity was led by Iliad Partners, with Yango Ventures and Raw Ventures both making their first investments in the region. The round includes a credit facility from Partners for Growth and a mezzanine facility structured by Shorooq, with participation from a family office.
Comfi was founded in 2023 by Sanjar Samiev (CEO), Alisher Akbarov (COO), Amal Abdullaev (CRO) and Denis Gavrilin (CFO). Samiev previously co-founded Wing.ae, the Dubai delivery logistics startup that was acquired by Souq.com in September 2017, shortly after Souq itself was bought by Amazon for $580 million.
The company offers a B2B buy now, pay later product that allows SME suppliers to provide up to 90-day payment terms to their business customers while receiving payment themselves within 24 hours. Comfi has processed over 15,000 invoices and serves more than 1,000 clients including Odoo, Al Naboodah and DubaiCranes.
"We built Comfi from firsthand experience with how disruptive payment cycles can be to an SME's operations," said Samiev. "When you're waiting over 60 days to get paid, you can't invest in inventory, hire the right people, or take on new opportunities. We're fixing that by combining embedded finance with AI-driven risk and underwriting to unlock capital instantly, without the friction of traditional lending."
Christos Mastoras, founder and managing partner of Iliad Partners, said the investment aligned with the firm's focus on technology companies that strengthen core GCC economic infrastructure. "Comfi is tackling one of the most fundamental pain points in the region: access to working capital for SMEs," he said.
Joe Barron, credit principal at Shorooq, said what stood out was not just growth but Comfi's ability to underwrite credit risk using proprietary models built on real transaction data. "From our perspective as credit investors, that creates a more resilient and scalable model than traditional working capital lending," he said. "We believe platforms like Comfi will become critical financial infrastructure for the region's supply chains."
The new funding will support scaling Comfi's underwriting and risk capabilities, expanding its product offering and accelerating growth across key regional markets.
