• UAE-based Merit Incentives, a customer and employee engagement platform, has raised $5 million in a Series A round led by Saudi’s Impact46 along with Tech Invest Com, Arzan VC, Hambro Perks Oryx and several regional angel investors. 
• Founded in 2016 by Julie Barbier-Leblan, Merit Incentives began as a B2C gifting solution and has expanded to offer B2B engagement tools and technologies.
• It now operates its own rewards network of 5,000 partner brands across 100+ countries, with 500+ retailers and merchants in the GCC. Its clients including Riyad Bank, Vodafone, Mubadala and Amazon and claims to have 20 million end-users globally.
• Merit Incentives plans to use this funding to grow its team into new territories and invest in its technology.
• The company has offices in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan and UK, along with a technology lab and development team located in Pakistan. Merit expects to triple its research and development resources across offices by the end of 2022.

Press release:

Merit Incentives, a leading developer of innovative customer and employee engagement solutions announced a $5 Million Series A investment round, led by Riyadh-based venture capital fund Impact46 along with Tech Invest Com, Arzan VC, Hambro Perks Oryx and several regional angel investors. 

What started as a B2C gifting solution has expanded to become one of the most engaging technology and consulting firms specialized in developing the latest B2B engagement tools and technologies. Currently, Merit offers its B2B2C services to a diverse portfolio of large enterprises, including Riyad Bank, Vodafone, Mubadala, Adidas and Amazon.

Merit Incentives’ products include Rewardsby, a Software as a service (SaaS) loyalty and rewards marketplace made up of nine distinctive engaging redemption modules, and GiftCardsby - the most advanced SaaS digital gift card platform on the market, enabling instant sales and redemptions from retailers.

Julie Barbier-Leblan, CEO and Founder of Merit Incentives said: “We are thrilled to have received strong support from such prominent investment firms. While we had the option of securing international investors our ambition has always been to raise funds from within the region, as this is where our business first launched. We believe in the Middle East’s fast-growing market which allows us to serve our international clients’ needs with agility and efficiency.” 

The engagement startup operates its own rewards network of 5,000 partner brands across 100+ countries, with 500+ retailers and merchants in the GCC alone, making it a firm that delivers on its promise of ‘thinking globally, acting locally’. In a sign of Merit Incentives’ bright future ahead, it recently surpassed a landmark milestone of 20 million end-users globally

“We are amid a new era where users require unique yet meaningful experiences with companies they like and trust. It has now become imperative for businesses to engage directly with their customers, and internally with their employees, to create a constant dialogue and emotional bond at every touch point. We believe that the key to success is for leaders and managers to be able to align customer and employee engagement to support their vision, using SaaS technologies, and strong digital content, and Merit Incentives is uniquely positioned to accomplish just that,” Barbier-Leblan continued. 

“With the team led by Julie and talented individuals from various backgrounds in tech, banking, & retail. Merit is set to tackle a great opportunity within the business engagement technology sector. The company has been able to expand within the GCC with a global mindset while maintaining a good grasp of the local enterprise and SME market.” said Basmah Al Sinaidi, partner at Impact46.

Merit Incentives plans to use this funding for the growth of their team into new territories, and further investment in technology, building on the existing artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities of its solutions. 

In addition to its headquarters in Dubai, the company has offices in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan and UK, along with a technology lab and development team located in Pakistan. With a strong focus on in-house development, Merit expects to triple its research and development resources across offices by the end of 2022.