World Fintech Show Featured Dynamic Collabs Set to Influence the Direction of Fintech in KSA

Some of the biggest names and most brilliant minds in the fintech and financial services attended Trescon’s World Fintech Show held on the 5th and 6th of December at the InterContinental, Riyadh.

The event heavily focused on unleashing the potential of Saudi Arabia’s fintech sector. World Fintech Show aided in establishing strategic alliances aimed at transforming the financial services industry for the foreseeable future. 

The event began with a special speech by Eng. Mansour Alobaid, Chairman Information & Communication Tech Committee, Riyadh Chamber, was then followed by a talk by Mr. Issam Abousleiman, Country Director, World Bank, on fintech in Saudi Arabia. 

World Fintech Show, which is renowned for its insightful panel discussions, featured discussions on topics like “Open Banking today to Open Finance tomorrow,” “Moving towards a cashless society,” “Regulatory compliance with FinTech legislation,” “Leveraging Big data, AI & Machine Learning across Fintech” and “Tackle real-world industry challenges to build a Fintech start-up with a viable business model.” The panel talks were all focused on industry challenges, the financial industry’s future, and the influx of innovative financial concepts. 

World Fintech Show served as a platform for Revival Labs, and Arbah Capital to formalize their alliance and announce the launch of their joint venture, Fintactics Studio.

Fintactics will focus on assisting internal businesses and investing in cutting-edge, high-growth fintech ventures throughout the Kingdom, MENA, and the rest of the world. Fintactics is supported by a 150Mn SAR CMA-sanctioned VC fund.

Mahmoud Koohaji, CEO of Arbah Capital, mentioned: “We are now witnessing a notable flow of opportunities with unique quality, and through this cooperation, we are committed to creating a suitable business environment to enhance excellence and growth in the financial sector.”

According to Mohammed Al Maghlouth, CEO of Revival Lab: “We have worked to provide innovative initiatives for the financial sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and we aim to enable the fund to support other regions globally.”

Partnership Agreement of Fintactics & Aion Digital

Aion Digital, a digital banking platform that strives to revitalize banking through customer-centric digital transformations is working with Fintactics to shape the financial landscape of the future. Both companies will jointly develop and expand important digital products in the GCC and MENA thanks to this collaboration. 

Haitham Alsahfy, CEO of Fintactics Ventures, said: “As a venture builder specialized in fintech, we seek to make Fintactics Ventures the initiator and supporter of rapid growth in the sector on solid foundations creating an attractive environment for competition and entrepreneurship by providing resources and capabilities through cooperation to accelerate the development process in startups, and be among the recent organizations to strengthen the national ecosystem in the field.”

The signing of Reg-Tech (Lezaam) JV agreement 

A new joint venture between Fintactics and Aion Digital- Lezaam will offer RegTech-as-a-Service with all features and capabilities required for digital onboarding and eKYC from journey orchestration, compliance, AML screening, and digital forensics. 

Partnership Agreement of Fintactics & Bitfy Holdings

Fintactics has invested in Bitfy Holdings, a Brazilian-based venture pioneering “Blockchain as a Service” to offer tokenization of illiquid assets. Fintactics will be able to localize blockchain tokenization and securitization technologies of physical and illiquid assets. This investment was followed by a partnership at World Fintech Show in Saudi Arabia. 

Launch of Holoul 

Utilizing the opportunity of being present at World Fintech Show, the launch of the most recent Fintactics Venture, Holoul was also announced. Holoul is a digital mortgage platform that focuses on facilitating and enhancing homeownership. The numerous market dynamics and political encouragement from ministries were the driving forces behind this. In addition, it’s a marketplace where customers can find a variety of luxury home products that suit their demands. 

Apart from these momentous MoU signings, the event also witnessed an excellent mix of back-to-back panel discussions, keynote speeches, use cases, and exclusive networking opportunities. 

The second day of the World Fintech Show featured some compelling topics. Mr. Wasif Hasan, Sr. Director Global Trade & Supply Chain, Al Rahji Bank, gave a noteworthy keynote speech that focused on the digitalization of financial services and the expanding Saudi fintech sector. In his presentation, “Banking as a service – A boon for Fintech providers,” Mr. Mohammad Nasrullah, Head of Transactional Banking, Arab National Bank, spoke extensively on the $7 trillion opportunity in the financial sector.

Speaking on Mapping the fintech landscape in Saudi, Mr. Kholoud Alharbi, Entrepreneur Selection, & Growth and Research Insight Associate, Endeavor talked about how Saudi can achieve the international market benchmark soon. 

Panel discussions on topics like “Anti-Money Laundering (AML) – Safeguard financial systems & customers,” and “Stimulating venture investments with the goal of minimizing financial gaps for startups” offered insightful information on compliance issues that organizations face and how to easily overcome them as well as financial systems that are reshaping the financial market. 

Startup Grand Slam Pitch Competition

Startup Grand Slam is a dedicated pitch competition for startups in the fintech space that are either preparing to launch their business, or the ones who are planning expansion. It brought together leading early-stage startups for a live on-stage battle where they get to pitch their ideas to some of the most influential people in the emerging tech space.

The winner of the Grand Slam Pitch Competition was Mr. Oleg Kryukovskiy, Co-Founder of Kilde Financial Technologies. Kilde arranges unique private credit deals with consumer finance companies, offering investors a fixed yield of 10-12% per annum.

“The event opened business opportunities for companies in the fintech space, offering them the opportunity to network with potential customers and partners, as well as to showcase their products and services. It also provided a platform for educational and knowledge sharing sessions, featuring industry experts and thought leaders, as well as a showcase of innovative technologies, products and services. Attendees had the chance to learn about the latest trends and developments in the fintech industry, as well as gain insights on how to successfully launch and scale their businesses,” said Mr. Mithun Shetty, CEO, Trescon.