In an interview with The Entrepreneur the Middle East, the founder and CEO of the fintech startup ArabianChain Mohammed Alsehli talked about the latest funding round and the blockchain startups in MENA region.
Launched in April this year, ArabianChain, the first public blockchain in the Arab world, already has a rich history. Although it is still in its pre-revenue phase, the young company has worked with prominent clients among which Microsoft, Dell, Ericsson, and Oracle. Active in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, it offers an open source blockchain-based platform for smart contracts.
ArabianChain offers two distinctive features – DBIX, a local cryptocurrency to enable secure payments and money transfer, and Thuraya, smart contracts programming language in Arabic. The team has not launched Thuraya yet, but it is working hard on it.
During its latest funding round, ArabianChain managed to raise AED 3 million in capital. The Saudi-based Eng. Ahmed Abdullah Bugshan, Board member at the Arabian Bugshan Group and Vice President of the House of Invention Intl. led the round. Alsehli commented he would invest the fresh capital in team mobilization, marketing, research, and development of solutions. In the long run, the company aims to create a highly efficient Islamic banking solutions.
Asked about some tips to rising MENA startups, Alsehli said that getting to know your customer well is the first step. According to him, unless explicitly required, the pitch to investors should not be too technical but more visual. He also advised young entrepreneurs not to be afraid to ask for help and guidance.
Read the whole interview here.