Why We Doubled Down on Spare

Building the Financial Rails of Tomorrow: Why We Doubled Down on Spare

At Vision Ventures, we’ve seen countless fintech pitches across MENA, but few have captured our attention quite like Spare did back in 2022. Leading their seed round was one of the fastest investment decisions we’ve ever made, and today, we’re proud to continue our partnership by participating in their $5 million Pre-Series A round. The thesis was simple yet powerful: open banking represents a fundamental shift in how financial services operate, and MENA was ripe for this transformation. While Europe had already demonstrated the potential with PSD2 regulations driving innovation, the Middle East remained largely untapped despite having all the right ingredients; sophisticated banking infrastructure, tech-savvy populations, and progressive regulatory environments.

What convinced us to back Dalal AlRayes and Saurabh Shah wasn’t just their vision, but their experience and execution capabilities. Dalal’s business instincts and Saurabh’s operational depth make them a strong founding team. They understood both the technical complexities of financial infrastructure and the market dynamics needed to scale across diverse regulatory landscapes.

 

 

The progress since our initial investment has been nothing short of remarkable. From their original base in Bahrain, Spare has expanded to become permitted by the Saudi Central Bank to test its innovative services under the Regulatory Sandbox environment, and has received In Principle Approval to offer Open Finance Services in UAE. Today, Spare connects with all major banks in the Kingdom for Account Information services. They’ve built a client base of over 50 customers in Saudi Arabia alone, with retention rates that frankly surprised us; in B2B fintech, customer stickiness at this level is rare. Perhaps most impressively, they’ve achieved this growth with exceptional capital efficiency. While many fintechs burn through millions building basic infrastructure, Spare has built a comprehensive open finance platform that serves leading companies like Najm, Zid, and Tamara; all while maintaining lean operations and strong unit economics.

The regulatory winds are clearly at their back. SAMA’s Open Banking Lab and phased regulatory framework, coupled with similar initiatives across the UAE and other GCC markets, are creating the perfect environment for Spare to scale. When Payment Initiation Services Provider (PISP) licenses become available, Spare is already positioned to convert their existing client base seamlessly.

The market opportunity ahead is substantial – MENA’s Open Finance market is projected to reach approximately USD 9.98 billion by 2030. But more importantly, Spare isn’t just riding a wave; they’re creating the infrastructure that will enable the next generation of financial innovation across the region. This follow-on investment reflects our conviction that open finance infrastructure will be as fundamental to MENA’s digital economy as cloud computing was to the internet age. Spare has proven they can execute, scale, and do it all with remarkable capital discipline. We’re excited to support their mission to unlock the full potential of Open Finance in MENA.