Squadio, a tech startup and TAAS (Team as a Service) platform, has raised an undisclosed figure in SEED funding from SEEDRA Ventures.
Previously known as Ibtikar technologies, Squadio was founded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2019 as an app development company. It deftly changed its model framework to meet the increased demand from startups and businesses looking to hire and manage their own full-time engineering team remotely, using engineers approved by Squadio’s talent community.
Last year was a turning point for Saudi Arabia’s Enterprise Software and SaaS sectors, as Unifonic, a cloud communications solutions provider, closed KSA’s first-ever Megadeal ($100M+), propelling investment growth to a new peak of 1,500% YoY. The significant expansion of the business software sector was noted amidst a general funding increase in KSA during 2021.
Surprisingly, though, KSA-based Enterprise Software firms saw a 600% increase in transaction volume. Last year, Saudi-based enterprise software companies raised significant funds to provide seamless solutions to people and organizations, including HRTech solutions from PalmHR and Sabbar, E-retail and Q-commerce solutions from Zid and Omniful, and even accounting solutions from VoM.
With a portfolio of over 100+ organizations varying from government entities to tech startups, the likes of Monshaat, Sabbar, Morni, Resal, Sabq and more, Squadio helped endless businesses build and manage their tech teams remotely. The startup provides B2B solutions including vetting, hiring engineers, payroll services, plus the option of a product manager (CTO) per squad.
In light of this platform-boost investment, Co-founder and CEO Khaled Senawy, commented: “We know how challenging it is to find and manage tech talents, in Squadio we helped 100-plus regionally businesses reduce their manpower expenses by over 40%, while building their teams who develop tech products, reducing their expenses by 40%.
We also built a talent community with +350 engineers working out of 5 countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, and more. We plan to increase this number through our platform. Our partnership with SEEDRA Venture exceeded the funding part, we won a great team working with us side by side to improve our model and open new doors for growth.”
Additionally, Squadio intends to expand its talent network to more regions and provide added perks to its members. Haitham Alforaih, co-founder and CEO of SEEDRA VENTURES, expressed his enthusiasm for this new venture: “We see growing demand for remote engineering teams, and we’re confident that Squadio is well-positioned to provide start-ups with access to the best software engineers working on building great platforms.”