UAE-headquartered fintech firm Beehive celebrated on Tuesday the official launch of its crowdfunding platform in the Sultanate of Oman with an event at the Crowne Plaza Muscat. It was held under the auspices of Abdul Aziz al Reesi, Deputy Head of the Public Authority for SME Development.
Beehive soft-launched its platform in June 2022 in partnership with Ahlibank on its Tamkeen product, bringing an alternative finance solution for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to Oman.
Beehive, headquartered in the UAE, uses its fintech platform to connect a crowd of investors with small businesses looking for finance. It has funded over $400 million in total in the GCC since its inception in 2014. In partnership with Ahlibank, the company has funded twenty businesses and a total of RO 1.4 million in finance since launching in Oman.
Peer to peer lending is an established source of funding for SMEs in many countries and is becoming increasingly widespread across the GCC. The finance is unsecured, meaning businesses don't have to provide physical collateral for security, and instead the approval is based on the business's creditworthiness, which is assessed using Beehive's robust credit decisioning engine.
Amongst the first companies to receive funding from Beehive and Ahlibank were Charisma Clinic and Al Naamani.
Dr Ghaith Sleman, Co-owner of Charisma Clinic said, "We chose to use Beehive for our funding because of the lack of tangible securities needed. The process was quick and easy and was used to purchase new machines, as well as making us cash-rich which was instrumental in speeding up our expansion plans."
Mazin al Mahrooqi, Owner of Al Naamani said, "From the start, getting finance from Beehive was a smooth process. To my knowledge there is nothing else like this in Oman, it is collateral free, and they do not ask for unnecessary documents to get approved."
Craig Moore, CEO and Founder of Beehive commented, "There is much potential for SMEs to bring economic growth to Oman. Improving their access to finance supports this, and we are excited to be part of that journey."
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