Saudi Payments Startup Lite Raises $3.2m Pre-Seed Led by Scene Holding
The Riyadh fintech is building a business payments platform and pursuing an electronic money institution licence from the Saudi Central Bank.
Lite, a Saudi payments startup, has raised $3.2 million in a pre-seed round led by Scene Holding, capital it will use to build a payments and financial-services platform for businesses in the Kingdom. The company is pursuing an electronic money institution licence from the Saudi Central Bank.
Lite aims to offer merchants and companies a comprehensive suite of payment and money-movement tools tailored to the Saudi market, positioning itself amid a rapidly regulating fintech sector where licensing is becoming a prerequisite to scale. "This funding marks a major step forward in our mission to provide businesses with seamless, secure, and scalable payment solutions tailored to the Saudi market," said chief executive Fahad Anteet.
Scene Holding chairman Sultan Ghaznawi cited the founding team's expertise and vision as key drivers of the investment, expressing confidence in the startup's ability to help reshape the country's fintech landscape. The pre-seed round gives Lite the runway to build product and pursue the regulatory approvals that underpin its model.
The raise adds to a busy period for Saudi fintech, as the central bank steadily issues licences and a wave of startups competes to serve businesses with modern payment infrastructure under the Kingdom's financial-sector development agenda.