Erad, an SME financing platform based in Riyadh, has partnered with Jefferies — with additional co-investment from Channel Capital — to secure a $125 million credit deal. Once completed, this will be Jefferies’ first asset-backed financing deal in the GCC and will help the firm strengthen its presence in Saudi Arabia.
The new funding facility will support Erad’s expansion of embedded finance solutions across the GCC. It comes as the company experiences strong momentum, including six-times year-over-year growth and more than $700 million in funding requests from SMEs.
A portion of the funds dedicated to Saudi SMEs will be deployed through CMA-licensed direct financing funds managed by Erad Partners Capital, enabling wider access to capital for growing businesses in the Kingdom.
Salem Abu-Hammour, Co-founder of erad, said, “Our partnership with Jefferies represents a transformative moment for SME financing in the region. By embedding financing directly into existing supplier and platform relationships, we’re making working capital as accessible as a payment transaction. The support from the regulators, Jefferies and Channel Capital, demonstrates the strategic importance of alternative finance in supporting the Kingdom’s goal of SME growth.”
Mark Collier, Managing Director at Jefferies, added, “We are proud to work with erad and the Channel team on one of our first asset-backed financing solutions in the GCC, and our partnership with erad represents a significant step forward in creating seamless access to capital for GCC SMEs, which we think erad are uniquely well positioned to provide. The combination of erad’s proprietary technology platform with our global experience in asset-backed financing solutions will enable erad to address the real-time working capital needs of SMEs across the region.”
Johan Nisser, CIO at Channel, added: “Channel is proud to team up with the Erad Team, Jefferies and other stakeholders involved in this transaction, our first in KSA and a continuation of our seven years of sharia-compliant asset-backed finance in the GCC region. We are excited to support the aspirations of Erad in powering businesses across the middle east region in this inaugural ABS financing.”
After this deal, Erad is extending its reach into various sectors and expanding its product lineup. This includes embedded finance solutions that allow suppliers and business platforms to offer financing directly at the point of sale. This model is already active with key partners supplying healthcare and F&B products in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The new agreement follows Erad’s recent $33 million debt funding round led by Stride Ventures, further strengthening its growth trajectory.
Since launching, Erad has provided more than SAR 250 million in financing to SMEs across the region, supported by its fast 48-hour approval process. The company aims to help close the GCC’s massive $250 billion SME credit gap.
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