Saudi-based alternative financing platform erad has secured a $125 million credit facility led by Jefferies, with co-investment from Channel Capital, marking Jefferies’ first asset-backed financing transaction in the GCC. The facility is scalable and will be deployed through CMA-licensed direct financing funds managed by Erad Partners Capital.
The capital will expand erad’s embedded finance solutions into new B2B verticals including manufacturing, logistics, distribution and real estate services, with financing ticket sizes of up to SAR 10 million. Key applications will enable suppliers and business platforms to offer working capital solutions directly at the point of sale, via erad’s embedded finance API.
“Our partnership with Jefferies represents a transformative moment for SME financing in the region,” said Salem Abu-Hammour, Co-founder, erad. “By embedding financing directly into existing supplier and platform relationships, we’re making working capital as accessible as a payment transaction.”
The transaction follows erad’s $33 million debt financing round announced in September, led by Stride Ventures at Money20/20 Riyadh, Stride’s first major Saudi transaction. In parallel, erad has witnessed 6× year-on-year growth and processed over $700 million in funding requests, with more than SAR 250 million ($67 million) already deployed to SMEs across Saudi Arabia and the UAE via its 48-hour approval process.
“The combination of erad’s proprietary technology and our global experience in asset-backed financing will enable seamless access to capital for GCC SMEs,” said Mark Collier, Managing Director at Jefferies.
“This is our first transaction in Saudi Arabia and a continuation of seven years of sharia-compliant financing in the GCC,” added Johan Nisser, CIO at Channel.
SMEs account for approximately 50% of GDP and two-thirds of employment across the GCC, yet face an estimated $250 billion funding gap. The facility is intended to help close this deficit and advance regional economic diversification objectives under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
Founded in 2022 by Salem Abu-Hammour, Faris Yaghmour, Abdulmalik Almeheini and Youssef Said, erad delivers Shariah-compliant financing via a data-driven platform designed to accelerate SME growth across key sectors including retail, healthcare and F&B.
