UAE-based e-commerce and e-procurement platform Distichain and Lebanon-based on-demand grocery delivery service Markit are set to receive $45,000 in funding after being peer-selected for investment during the Finance Forward Mena 2020 accelerator programme.

Finance Forward Mena 2020 is a multi-year global coalition to support entrepreneurs from four continents who are building tech-enabled solutions to challenges around financial health. The programme was managed by Village Capital in collaboration with MetLife Foundation and PayPal, and was executed with local partners Beyond Capital, Impact Hub Istanbul and EFG-EV Fintech.

UAE-based financial technology (fintech) startups: Datacultr Fintech Limited, HubPay and Buyback Bazaar Technology, who ranked 3-5 in the peer review process, will receive $20,000 in grant funding.

“We congratulate the winners who, like their peers, are striving to put peoples’ lives and businesses on stronger financial footing in one of the most unequal regions in the world,” said Alicia Sornson, manager of programmes and partnerships in Mena at Village Capital. “Now more than ever, their solutions are needed to help address challenges that have only intensified due to the pandemic. The region’s entrepreneurs are well-qualified and highly motivated to achieve impact and we will be following their progress with great interest.”

“By bringing together a group of emerging fintechs through Finance Forward, we are able to elevate organisations that are at the forefront of financial health in Mena,” said Ossman Charabati, advisory board member for Finance Forward. “MetLife Foundation and MetLife congratulate Distichain and Markit for developing powerful new business models that will help ensure lower-income people and small businesses benefit from the financial sector in the region."

The remaining companies in the Finance Forward Mena 2020 cohort included Egypt-based startups: PayMin, Valify Solutions and Khazna, and Turkey-based startup E-Bursum and WorqCompany.