MAYS IBRAHIM (ABU DHABI)

For many small- and medium-sized businesses, securing finance is not necessarily about finding a lender, it is about finding the right type of capital at the right time.

A business may have obtained a major contract or issued an invoice to a large buyer yet still wait months for payment while facing immediate costs such as salaries, suppliers and inventory.

It is a financing gap that Abu Dhabi is seeking to address through Numou, a platform that brings together banks, fintech companies and government funding programmes, giving SMEs a single point through which to explore different financing options.

“SMEs often do not know which provider or product best fits their needs,” Mohamed Al Binali, General Manager of Numou, told Aletihad in a recent interview. 

“Approaching multiple lenders separately requires considerable time and repeated documentation.”

Established by Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the platform is nearing 1,000 registered SMEs, with more than Dh200 million in financing requested. 

It currently brings together 17 financing partners offering more than 40 financing products, according to Al Binali.

“The objective is not to replace each lender’s credit assessment, but to improve the quality and consistency of the information available, help lenders assess opportunities more efficiently and connect SMEs with providers whose criteria are better suited to their profiles,” he explained. 

The platform also aggregates relevant business and financial information, including bank-statement activity, transaction history, contracts, purchase orders and invoices, to provide financing providers with a clearer picture of a business.

For Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s startup ecosystem, the platform offers another piece of the puzzle as companies move beyond early-stage fundraising.

“Access to capital is important at every stage of a startup’s journey, but the type of capital a company needs changes as it grows,” Basma AlBadi AlDhaheri, Head of Growth and Value Creation at Hub71, told Aletihad. 

Hub71 startups have collectively raised almost Dh11 billion over the past six years. As they mature, AlDhaheri said, they may require working capital or debt financing alongside equity.

The relationship works in both directions. Hub71 startups can use Numou to explore financing, while fintech companies within the ecosystem can become financing providers themselves.

When the Startup Ecosystem Becomes Part of the Solution

Three Hub71 portfolio companies — Zelo, Abhi and FlapKap — are already financing partners on Numou.

That creates a two-way ecosystem in which startups are not only recipients of financing, but also providers of financial solutions to the wider SME market.

Zelo, for example, focuses on financing linked to commercial transactions and receivables. CEO Dhanush Arjun says the company targets viable UAE businesses with credible customers and confirmed contracts whose growth is constrained by working-capital timing.

He points to businesses operating on payment cycles of 90 to 150 days, where a company can have strong demand but struggle to fulfil orders because cash is tied up in receivables. In one case, financing helped a manufacturer increase its contract-fulfilment capacity fourfold.

Abhi similarly focuses on eligible B2B invoices, allowing businesses to unlock liquidity against receivables rather than relying primarily on fixed-asset collateral. Its Co-Founder and CEO, Omair Ansari, says Numou can help bring structured invoice and buyer information into the financing process, potentially reducing manual documentation and assessment friction.

FlapKap takes a different approach, offering revenue-based funding to established SMEs looking to invest in growth.

CEO Ahmad Coucha, said Numou's value is largely about discovery. “Numou creates a single digital entry point where businesses can discover different funding options,” he told Aletihad.

Together, the three models demonstrate the broader proposition: an SME that needs finance does not necessarily need another conventional loan. 

Depending on its business model and cash-flow cycle, invoice financing, revenue-based funding or other forms of working capital may be more appropriate.

That makes Hub71's role in the relationship more than simply directing its companies towards a financing platform.

The collaboration works in both directions. Startups can use Numou to find capital, while fintech companies in the Hub71 community can use it to reach SMEs beyond the startup ecosystem.

“That two-way relationship is what makes the collaboration particularly valuable,” said AlDhaheri.

For Hub71, creating those commercial opportunities is increasingly important. Its startups have signed almost Dh900 million in corporate deals since 2022, which the organisation sees as evidence of companies becoming more deeply embedded in Abu Dhabi's wider economy.

There is a wider economic argument, too. When a capable supplier cannot accept a contract or expand because its cash is tied up waiting for payment, the constraint can affect buyers and supply chains as well.

Zelo's Arjun describes the issue as a “working capital gap across the buyer-supplier ecosystem” rather than simply an SME lending gap.

Numou's next phase could extend that journey further. 

The platform is preparing to launch a bank-account journey, allowing companies to explore banking options through the same platform, potentially creating a path from establishing a company and building a financial track record to eventually accessing finance.

The ambition, ultimately, is not simply to help SMEs borrow more.

It is to make capital easier to navigate, connect businesses with financing that fits their particular circumstances, and bring traditional lenders and newer fintech models into the same ecosystem.