BuildFi / About

Built to close the timing gap the rest of finance ignored.

BuildFi pays MENA construction subcontractors against their certified progress claims in 24–72 hours. We collect from the general contractor on the contractual due date. The cash exists in the system. The timing is broken. We fix that.

ADGM · HUB71 (planned)Pre-incorporationFounded 2026Pre-Seed · Q2 2026
About · the why

We're here because nobody else underwrites the GC.

MENA is in the middle of a $1.5 trillion construction super-cycle — Vision 2030, NEOM, D33, Qiddiya, Red Sea, Mukaab. A generational build-out measured in decades, not quarters. And yet the SMEs who physically build it wait 120 to 270 days for cash they have already earned.

Banks underwrite SME balance sheets, not general-contractor counterparty risk. Digital factoring platforms still demand personal guarantees and 1–2 weeks. Supplier credit doesn't touch the labour and overhead leg of a sub's billings. The structural answer — long-tenor unfunded receivables — has a name: the timing gap.

BuildFi closes that gap with a product built for how construction actually works: an instant Sharia-compatible cash advance to the sub, secured by a Hawala assignment of the GC payment right and routed through a Controlled Collection Account.

StatusBuildFi Ltd · ADGM Private Co. (in incorporation)
StagePre-Seed · raising $750K @ 15% post-money equity
SPV facility$5M ADGM SPV · Tawarruq · tranched (planned)
HQHub71 · Al Maryah Island · Abu Dhabi
MarketsUAE (Phase 1) · KSA (Phase 3) · Qatar / Oman / Bahrain (horizon)
RegulationADGM FSRA RegLab applicant · AAOIFI Std 30 + 8 · SAMA Sandbox target 2027–28
Team

Operators, not bankers.

Two co-founders active. Senior CEO, General Counsel and Head of KYC/AML & Compliance — all industry veterans — signed at pre-seed close on a phased start aligned to FSRA RegLab admission. Profiles released to investors under NDA.

CT
Co-founder & CTO
Active

AI/risk-engine architecture. Owns the Alternative Data Engine and legal-data integrations (DLD, RERA, ADGM Courts, ADJD, Dubai Courts, Lean, Tarabut). Profile under NDA.

CO
Co-founder · GCC Construction
Active

GCC construction supply-chain network. Main-contractor and developer relationships. Deal structuring and partner-side sales for GC cooperation agreements. Profile under NDA.

VC
Senior CEO
Industry vet · signed at pre-seed close · M6 full-time

MENA private-credit / construction-fintech leadership. Institutional-LP credibility. FSRA / DFSA regulatory relationships. Equity grant from 20% pre-money ESOP pool.

GC
General Counsel
Industry vet · signed · ramped from M3

UAE construction law plus financial services. PDC civil fast-track and ADGM Courts arbitration track record. Counsel-of-record relationships across the regional firms.

CC
Head of KYC/AML & Compliance
Industry vet · signed · M1 start (RegLab condition precedent)

FATF-aligned onboarding. Sanctions and PEP screening. Transaction monitoring tuned to construction-receivables typologies. RegLab and Cat 3C-ready from Day 1.

SB
Sharia Advisory Board
Three members · pre-launch · AAOIFI-certified

Pre-clears Tawarruq + Hawala templates. Annual Sharia audit. Quarterly transaction review. Late-charge purification per AAOIFI Standard 30.

Principles

Four things we won't compromise.

01

We underwrite the GC, not the SME balance sheet.

The certified IPC and the GC payment undertaking are the credit. Sub balance-sheet signal is secondary.

02

Every product is Sharia-compatible first.

Pre-cleared by our Sharia Advisory Board before a single line of code. Tawarruq + Hawala — not a retrofit.

03

Ring-fenced collection or no advance.

GC payments land directly in BuildFi's Controlled Collection Account. No advance without the routing instruction in place.

04

Regulation before revenue.

ADGM FSRA RegLab first. Cat 3C FSP second. SAMA Sandbox third. We scale only behind licences that bind.

Build with us. Invest with us. Ship with us.

Confidential. Indicative only. Not an offer or financial promotion. Restricted to Professional Clients (ADGM FSRA definition) or equivalent accredited investors. Capital is at risk.