Riyadh-based fintech and proptech Safqah Capital has raised $15.2 million in a seed funding round, one of the largest pure equity seed raises in Saudi Arabia to date, as it builds financing infrastructure for SME real estate developers across the Kingdom.
The round was led by Shorooq, anb Seed Fund, and Rua Growth Fund, with participation from Sharaka Capital, COTU Ventures, Sadu Capital, 500 Global, Suhail Ventures, MEVP, Waad Invest, JOA Capital, and others. More than 12 institutional and venture investors participated in the round.
Founded less than two years ago, Safqah is targeting a structural bottleneck in Saudi Arabia’s real estate market: access to fast, transparent, Shariah-compliant financing for small and medium-sized developers. While mega-projects dominate headlines, SME developers deliver a large share of the Kingdom’s housing and commercial supply and often struggle with slow bank approvals, rigid underwriting, and high collateral requirements.
Safqah provides structured, Shariah-compliant debt financing tailored specifically to developers, supported by real estate underwriting, milestone-based disbursement, and digital project monitoring. The company is authorised by Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) to offer and enable investment in debt instruments.
In its first 18 months of operations, Safqah has financed more than 70 development projects with a combined value exceeding $800 million across Saudi Arabia. The company reports a zero-default track record to date, with loans collateralised at more than 248% and released through milestone-based controls.
“Banks were not built for the developers we were serving,” said Abdullah Alsubaie, co-founder and CEO of Safqah. “We built an ecosystem that allows developers to access capital faster, accelerate project delivery, and improve capital efficiency, while strengthening risk controls for all stakeholders.”
Safqah positions itself as more than a lender. Its platform combines financing, documentation, monitoring, and execution tools into a single workflow, effectively acting as an operating system for real estate development. The company also uses data analytics and AI to support underwriting, risk assessment, and ongoing project oversight, offering transparency to both developers and investors.
“Safqah is foundational infrastructure, not just another lending platform,” said Shane Shin, founding partner at Shorooq. “They’ve built a model that matches the pace of development in Saudi Arabia while meeting regulatory and institutional standards.”
Saudi Arabia’s real estate and infrastructure pipeline is estimated to exceed $1.1 trillion, creating sustained demand for developer financing. Safqah’s model aims to unlock capital flow across this ecosystem by reducing friction and improving execution velocity.
The founding team brings experience across real estate, capital markets, and technology. Alongside Alsubaie, the team includes Karim Merie (Chief Business Officer, formerly of NHC), Abdulmalik Alothman (Chief Financial Officer, previously involved in the ELM IPO), and Omar Alessa (Chief Technology Officer, with startup experience across Silicon Valley and London).
The new capital will be used to expand Safqah’s financing capacity, enhance its digital platform, and deepen its use of AI-driven underwriting and risk tools, as demand from developers continues to grow.
