Growing support for fintech industry in Lebanon

beirut digital district berythec
Berythec is now headquartered at Beirut Digital District at Bechara el-Khoury Avenue © Elyssa Rym

In a development that underscores a continued interest in the fintech industry among regional investors, Berytech, a Lebanese business development organization, made an equity investment of $5 million into financial software developer Capital Banking Solutions.

The investment, backed by a number of Lebanese banks, was made through its Berytech Fund II.

New York-headquartered Capital Banking Solutions has office in Beirut and in Dubai. The fintech software provider is an SME which caters to retail, corporate and private banks in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

Its clientele include such names as Bank of Africa, Lebanon’s Bank Audi, and UAE’s Al-Khaliji Bank.

According to a post from Berytech’s twitter account, the investment into the fintech Capital Banking Solutions marks the largest amount dolled out by its venture capital arm Berytech Fund II, to date.

Typically, the Berytech Fund II, focuses on SMEs and startups which have ties to Lebanon. This venture capital fund is one of the three funds Berytech operates. The software developer also provides a number of services to entrepreneurs, including training, incubation programs and office space.

Berytech’s deal mirrors several others that have been made in the fintech sector in the last 12 months. In May 2018, Gulf Capital, a Abu Dhabi-based alternative asset manager acquired a strategic stake in electronic payment solutions provider Geidea. Although Gulf Capital did not quantify the size of the stake it nevertheless revealed that the deal’s valued exceeded $267 million.

In late 2017, Beehive, a UAE-based peer-to-peer lending platform raised $5 million in its series A funding round.

Berytech’s deal underscores a growing support and acceleration of fintech companies that are increasingly becoming commonplace in the Middle East and North Africa.