Saudi Arabia-based Vrtx, a provider of embedded finance infrastructure, has raised $3.6 million in a Pre-Seed funding round, with participation from local and international investors, including SC Ventures, the innovation and investment arm of Standard Chartered, Sadu Financial, BYLD, Sohail Ventures, F6 Ventures, TAZ Investment and Palm Ventures
Headquartered in Riyadh, Vrtx is developing the technical and operational infrastructure that enables businesses to integrate financial services into their products, including digital wallets, payments, card issuance, transfers and transaction processing, without having to build, integrate and manage the underlying systems independently
The company has received preliminary approval from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) for a digital wallet license, marking a step toward meeting the regulatory requirements for offering these services in the Kingdom
Building Infrastructure for Embedded Finance
Vrtx aims to address the technical and operational complexities businesses face when developing financial products. Launching such products typically requires companies to build technology systems, integrate with payment networks, manage operations and meet regulatory compliance and cybersecurity requirements
The company seeks to consolidate these capabilities into a single infrastructure layer, enabling businesses to develop financial services tailored to their needs while reducing the time and effort required to move from product development to operational readiness
Vrtx was founded by Mishal bin Salmah and Omar Shaaban, who previously worked with Tuwaiq, an early digital financial platform that was subsequently acquired by Tabby, according to the company’s statement
Mishal bin Salmah, co-founder and CEO of Vrtx, said developing fintech products requires companies to invest in infrastructure, operations and compliance before they can begin serving customers. He added that Vrtx aims to make these capabilities available through a single platform that businesses can use according to their specific requirements
Gabriel Heredia, head of Standard Chartered Ventures in Saudi Arabia, said the investment reflects confidence in the growth of the Kingdom’s embedded finance sector, highlighting the role of financial infrastructure in enabling businesses across different industries to offer financial services
Meanwhile, Yousef Ojeidan, co-founder and managing partner at BYLD, said scaling embedded finance requires innovation to develop alongside regulatory compliance, adding that this approach was among the factors that strengthened BYLD’s confidence in the Vrtx team and its business model
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