Maalexi, a new-generation B2B food and agriculture platform, has secured a shariah-compliant credit line of up to $20 million from Amwal Capital Partners (ACP), an investment firm focused on alternative assets in the MENA region.
The deal starts with an initial $5 million investment, which will help Maalexi grow its operations and work toward its goal of improving food security in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The funding will also let the company bring thousands of SMEs onto its platform and build a strong base for future growth.
Maalexi helps verified SMEs take part in cross-border food and agri-trade by lowering risks, improving access to capital, and ensuring secure transactions. The platform uses its own technology to manage credit, inventory, compliance, and logistics with high efficiency.
The funding is structured as a fully tech-enabled securitisation system, which tracks risk in real time and allows fast, small-sized transactions through Maalexi’s patented blockchain-based automation. It is backed by Maalexi’s inventory and receivables stored in UAE warehouses, with plans to expand into sourcing directly from farmers through partnerships with Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and cooperatives.
The agreement allows room for larger funding in the future as Maalexi grows its trade volumes and strengthens its data- and algorithm-based risk management systems.
These systems help lower key risks in food and agri-trade — such as quality, quantity, weight, price, partner reliability, and payments — making the process more efficient and trustworthy.
Dr Azam Pasha, CEO of Maalexi, said: “This facility is more than capital — it is a catalyst to enhance our capabilities, and help us build resilient and intelligent food supply chains that are driven by speed, transparency, and trust. Partnering with Amwal Capital empowers us to scale our reach to tens of thousands of SMEs across the region while accelerating the deployment of our core technology stack — AI for risk intelligence and decision-making, IoT for real-time trackability and traceability, and blockchain for secured documents and immutable transaction records. Combined with the capital support of partners like Amwal Capital, these innovations are redefining how food is digitally procured, stored, and distributed — reinforcing food security across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the wider GCC.”
The UAE imports nearly $24 billion worth of food annually, with 80% of it being re-exported to support regional food security. However, SMEs are still underused and overlooked in this supply chain. Maalexi aims to change that by giving SMEs a bigger role in strengthening food security across the region.
Along with supporting expansion, the funding structure will enable Maalexi to utilize more of its own equity capital to enhance its technology. This includes adding new embedded tools, building unique datasets, and developing a tokenization layer that will allow real-time transactions and payments within seconds.
Sharif Eid, Head of Private Credit at Amwal Capital Partners, added: “Maalexi’s proprietary technology stack, deep market linkages, and robust operational controls set a new benchmark for de-risking and scaling agri-trade. This is precisely the type of impactful business we are committed to supporting.”
Amwal Capital is not just providing funding to Maalexi but also becoming a key strategic partner. It will support the company in scaling up and increasing its impact across all SME segments in the food and agriculture trade value chain.
Fadi Arbid, CIO at Amwal Capital Partners, further added: “We are pleased to provide disruptive and non-traditional asset-backed capital to our partner Maalexi which in turn is disrupting a traditional industry poised for transformation through financial innovation in the strategically vital area of food security.”
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