Funding
Vrtx Raises $3.6 Million Pre-Seed to Build Embedded Finance Infrastructure in Saudi Arabia
By News Desk ·
Key takeaways
- Vrtx raised $3.6 million in a pre-seed round backed by SC Ventures by Standard Chartered, Sadu Capital, BYLD, Suhail Ventures, F6 Ventures, Taz Investment, and Palm Ventures.
- Vrtx received in-principle approval from the Saudi Central Bank for an Electronic Money Institution license.
- Vrtx was founded by Mishal Bin Slimah and Omar Shaaban, who previously worked together at Tweeq.
Vrtx has raised $3.6 million in pre-seed funding to build embedded finance infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East and North Africa. The round was backed by SC Ventures by Standard Chartered, Sadu Capital, BYLD, Suhail Ventures, F6 Ventures, Taz Investment, and Palm Ventures, Startup Researcher reported on October 19, 2026.
Vrtx's Embedded Finance Platform and SAMA Approval
Riyadh-based Vrtx plans to help businesses embed wallets, payouts, and card issuing directly into their own products. The company was founded by Mishal Bin Slimah and Omar Shaaban, who previously worked together at Tweeq, one of Saudi Arabia's early digital financial platforms that was later acquired by Tabby. Startup Scene reported that the company is building embedded finance infrastructure for wallets, cards, transfers, and payouts.
Vrtx has received In-Principle Approval from the Saudi Central Bank, known as SAMA, for an Electronic Money Institution license. The approval is a step toward enabling wallets, payouts, card issuing, transfers, and transaction processing within the Kingdom's regulatory framework. The platform provides a secure test environment, guided workflows, and an operational layer built for scale.
Mishal Bin Slimah, Co-Founder and CEO of Vrtx, described the company's vision as a hub of fintech capabilities that any company can pick from and build on based on what its product needs. "Building fintech products today is hard, and companies with a clear idea and real demand often spend years assembling core infrastructure, operations, and security before serving a single customer," he said.
Gabriel Heredia, SC Ventures by Standard Chartered Country Lead for Saudi Arabia, said the investment reflects conviction in the growth of embedded finance in Saudi Arabia and the increasing role of financial infrastructure. Youcef Oudjidane, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at BYLD, said embedded finance has potential to become an important layer of economic infrastructure, adding that what gave BYLD conviction in Mishal was his understanding that innovation and regulation need to develop hand in hand.
SC Ventures, the venture arm of Standard Chartered, was among the investors in Digital Asset's expanded funding round, which reached $365 million after an additional $10 million investment from Shinhan Financial Group and SC Ventures, according to crypto.news.
Vrtx's Funding and Platform History
According to akta.pro company records, Vrtx raised $2.5 million in a seed/early-stage funding round in February 2026 with undisclosed investors, establishing the company's initial capital base for platform development and go-to-market. The same records list one funding round on file, a 2026-02 pre-seed of $2.5 million, and total funding of $2.5 million at the pre-seed stage.
| Record | Date | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Seed/early-stage funding round | 2026-02 | $2.5 million |
| Pre-seed round on record | 2026-02 | $2.5 million |
| Total funding | Pre-seed stage | $2.5 million |
Vrtx launched a six-module embedded finance platform covering Wallets, Payout, Card Issuing, Transactions, Onboarding/KYC, and APIs/SDKs in 2025, targeting enterprise and mid-market clients in Saudi Arabia. The company established operations in Riyadh in 2025 with bilingual English and Arabic website content positioning the platform for the local fintech market aligned with SAMA regulatory expectations.