Due to the dispersed regulations and banking systems, expanding to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remains an expensive and complex challenge for global businesses. Financial Technology in Dubai fuse The aim is to simplify this through the cross-border payments API and raise $6.6 million in seed funding to achieve it.
By George Davisformer co-founder of BVNK and CTO James SmithFuse said it was the first infrastructure payment platform that offers a virtual international bank account (IBAS) in the region. This is what Davis said is common in Europe, but there are almost no products in North Africa.
“We are currently the only virtual IBAS provider in the Middle East,” Davis told TechCrunch. “This is an overcommercial product in Europe, but here, it doesn’t exist at all.”
Fuse’s core products include USD virtual accounts for cross-border currency movements, as well as ibans payments made on Dirham-based Ibans. This allows startups to provide international businesses with first-mile collections and last-mile spending without them building local entities, processing their own FX or navigation licenses.
Davis outlines two old options for global companies trying to transfer funds in MENA: local payment companies lacking in size, or larger cross-border players like Thunes, which often operate without a local license and rely on piecemeal partnerships.
Sitting in the middle, Fuse has a fully licensed infrastructure-level platform that simplifies the monetary movement throughout the Middle East using tracks of virtual IBAN and local payments. With these options, global businesses can operate in the region without setting up local infrastructure or navigating the traditional tape festival.
Most of Fuse’s customers are businesses in the United States, Europe and Asia who want to operate in MENA but lack a banking setup or license to do so quickly.
Virtual ibans do the job
One use case is the Employer of Record (EORS). For example, a UAE-based UAE employee often requires a local bank account (which is difficult to obtain without residency or permission) to pay a salary in Dirhams under the correct business name. Fuse solves this problem by issuing a virtual IBAN in dollar denominated, allowing businesses to pay their maximum limit and directly locally to beneficiaries in AED (Dirhams).
CEO George Davis said customers can “create unlimited ibans in the end customer’s name and make local payments.” “These customers don’t need to be residents or have local entities; they can be anywhere in the world.”
Fuse now serves over 20 customers, including EORS, remittance companies, crypto platforms, marketplaces and PSPs. Customers include Dlocal, Remotepass, and platforms such as Deel, Airbnb and Etsy, which will expand to MENA.
The UAE remains an anchor market for fuses, but the platform has begun to enable direct spending in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan and supports wholesale foreign exchange for Indian and Chinese businesses operating in the UAE that needs to come through controlled ditch strips, some of the most unpopular business trade and remittance routes in the region.
There are many startups in various regions that offer the same product, but Davis sees similarities to the visa-backed currency. Both offer virtual accounts, forex and cross-border payments, he said, “but the currency library, while global, is built for the Middle East,” he said.
And was surprised at the right time. Not only are the European Bureau businesses underserved; they have more transactions than ever before driven by a surge in e-commerce and digital payments. Davis believes that this demand has won a rare window for regional infrastructure players.
“Global cross-border payments are often the winners in the entire market,” he said. “But to win, you need local experts right now. That’s what we’re building.”
Truelayer and Bvnk experience
So far, it is working. Fuses are processing hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each quarter, with revenues exceeding more than 50%. In fact, Davis said there were more fuses this quarter than they did last year’s full season. The company makes money by charging fees per transaction.
Davis’ interest in solving cross-border payments in the Middle East comes from first-hand experience. At Truelayer, he helped expand fintech from data aggregators to open banking platforms that provide payments and serve over 100,000 businesses. exist Encrypted infrastructure starts bvnkCo-founded and served as Chief Product Officer, he saw difficulties in expanding global businesses to the Middle East.
“We are supporting businesses around the world to use Stablecoins to move funds out of emerging markets,” he said. “We feel the pain of getting into MENA – so do others I recommend. That’s what triggers the fuse.”
He launched Fuse in 2023 with longtime collaborator James Smith, who led the engineering at Truelayer and BVNK. Now the two lead a team of 12 people, spanning engineering, product and compliance.
Northzone, a European multi-stage venture capital firm supporting Klarna and Stephen, led the $6.6 million round, including participation from Flonish Ventures, Alter Global and famous angels, including Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga “GB” Agboola and former Mornogan Stanley Mena Mena Mena Mena Mena Makorge Makhoul.
“The fuse team is changing the payment infrastructure in one of the fastest growing markets in the world,” said Northzone partner Sanjot Malhi. “They simplify MENA’s ability to complex cross-border flows is exactly what the region needs.”
Fuse plans to use fresh capital to grow its team, obtain other regional licenses, and expand its product suite to the UAE.
