Fuse raises $6.6M to fix a payment problem for companies expanding to MENA

Summary

Expanding into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remains a costly and complex challenge for global businesses, thanks to fragmented regulations and banking systems. Dubai-based fintech Fuse aims to simplify that with a cross-border payments API and has raised $6.6 million in seed funding to make it happen. Founded in 2023 by George Davis, former co-founder of BVNK, and CTO James Smith, Fuse says it’s the first infrastructure-grade payments platform offering virtual International Bank Account Numbers (IBANs) in the region. This is a product Davis says is commonplace in Europe but nearly absent across MENA. “We’re currently the only provider of virtual IBANs in the Middle East,” Davis told TechCrunch. “It’s a hyper-commoditized product in Europe, but here, it simply didn’t exist.” Fuse’s core product includes USD virtual accounts for cross-border money movement and dirham-denominated IBANs for local UAE payments. That allows the startup to offer first-mile collections and last-mile payouts for international businesses without requiring them to set up a local entity, handle their own FX, or navigate licensing. Davis outlines two legacy options for global companies trying to move money in MENA: local payment firms that lack scale, or larger cross-border players like Thunes, which often operate without local licenses and rely on patchy partnerships. Fuse sits in the middle with a fully licensed, infrastructure-grade platform that simplifies money movement across the Middle East using virtual IBANs and local payout rails. With these options, global businesses can operate in the region without setting up local infrastructure or navigating regulatory red tape. Most of Fuse’s clients are businesses in the U.S., Europe, and Asia that want to operate in MENA but lack the banking setup or licenses to do so quickly. Virtual IBANs to do the job One use case is employers of record (EORs). For instance, a U.S.-based company with employees in the UAE typically needs a local ba...