UAE-based fintech company Gainz has successfully completed a seven-figure pre-seed funding round that combines both equity and debt. This funding round was spearheaded by Antler MENAP, along with Lithium Holdings and Eleventh Invest Inc., and received support from various high-net-worth investors in the region.

Founded in December 2024 by Shehab Mokhtar and Sherif Abdelaty, Gainz aims to provide an AI-powered, Shariah-compliant crowdfunding platform designed for working capital financing specifically targeting small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The platform allows individual investors to engage with pre-vetted SMEs, featuring low entry thresholds for participation.

During its testing phase, which took place in the second quarter of 2025, Gainz successfully facilitated seven deals and disbursed nearly US$400 000 in loans. The company plans to utilize the newly acquired funding to scale its platform, expand its operations regionally, and enhance its alternative lending technology to better serve SMEs.

The demand for SME financing in the MENA region highlights a substantial market opportunity, as there is a financing gap exceeding $200 billion. Although SMEs represent 96% of registered companies and roughly 50% of employment in the region, they only receive about 7% of total bank lending, the lowest rate globally. In Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the situation is even more severe, with only 2% of total lending directed toward SMEs.

This inefficiency in the market presents a clear opportunity for platforms like Gainz to address these challenges. The International Monetary Fund has indicated that improving access to finance for SMEs could potentially increase annual growth rates by up to 1% and create approximately 15 million jobs by 2025. Traditional banking processes, often requiring 2-4 months for loan approvals, have contributed to this bottleneck, making digital-first approaches and AI-powered credit decisioning increasingly vital.