Venture Capital Funding: SiFi secures $20m Series A for AI-driven spend management
Saudi Arabia-based spend management platform SiFi has raised $20 million in a Series A led by Raed Ventures, with participation from QED Investors and existing backers including Breyer Capital, MEVP, Sanabil Investments, Khawarizmi Ventures, SEEDRA Ventures, Rua Growth Fund, anb capital, and Tech Invest Com.
Founded in 2021, SiFi serves 3,500+ businesses in Saudi Arabia. The company says the capital will expand market presence, deepen AI capabilities for finance teams, and add new finance workflows as it moves toward a full-suite finance management platform. This round follows a $10 million seed in June 2024, bringing total funding to over $34 million.
What SiFi offers today
- Employee compensation management with central controls.
- Instant corporate card issuance (virtual and physical).
- Local supplier payments; international remittances for supplier payouts are on the roadmap.
Where the new funding is headed
- AI features for finance teams: automated policy enforcement, anomaly detection, and spend insights.
- Broader workflows: approvals, budgeting, and audit trails in one place.
- Market expansion across Saudi Arabia with deeper partnerships and enterprise coverage.
Why finance leaders should care
- Consolidation opportunity: cards, expenses, and payables under one platform can reduce tool sprawl and close cycles faster.
- Better control: real-time limits, merchant category controls, and automated flags help curb leakage and duplicate spend.
- Regional fit: local support and potential alignment with Saudi data residency needs can simplify compliance and procurement.
Due diligence checklist (Saudi context)
- Compliance: alignment with SAMA guidelines; e-invoicing support for ZATCA (FATOORA) where applicable.
- Security: encryption at rest/in transit, role-based access, audit logs; ask for SOC 2/ISO 27001 status and PCI DSS for cards.
- Data location: confirm hosting regions and options for KSA data residency.
- Card issuing stack: bank partnerships, BIN sponsorship, dispute handling SLAs.
- Controls: granular policy rules, receipt capture, per-diem support, workflows by cost center and project.
- Reporting: customizable dimensions, VAT tagging, reconciliation exports.
Integration and rollout tips
- ERP first: validate native connectors for SAP, Oracle, or NetSuite; confirm two-way sync for vendors, GL, and tax codes.
- Chart of accounts mapping: lock mapping rules before pilot to avoid rework.
- Pilot tight: start with 1-2 departments, cap limits, track adoption weekly, then scale.
- Policy transparency: publish card and expense rules inside the tool; automate reviews for exceptions.
Investor signal
Lead investor Raed Ventures and participation from global fintech backers indicate confidence in spend management demand across Saudi enterprises and SMEs. Expect faster product velocity and stronger enterprise features as this capital is deployed.
Context for your roadmap
- If you're consolidating finance ops in 2026, benchmark SiFi alongside your current stack for card issuance speed, spend controls, and supplier payment coverage.
- Model total cost of ownership: platform fees, interchange dynamics, implementation time, and internal support load.
- Use a 90-day success plan: adopt cards and expense first, layer AP next, then bring in AI-driven insights once clean data is flowing.
Exploring practical AI tools for finance teams? See curated options here: AI tools for Finance.
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