Map of active lenders, ticket sizes and covenants.
Short answer: yes—venture debt exists in the GCC—but availability is uneven and terms vary by country, lender type, and stage. This guide shows you how to map the market, decide if you’re ready, and run a tight process without getting trapped by covenants or hidden fees.
Key takeaways: Debt is realistic when efficiency is improving and collections are predictable. Expect secured structures and simple covenants (min cash, information rights). Shari’ah‑compliant options exist; confirm fit with your revenue model and legal counsel.
Availability is uneven; readiness and simplicity of covenants matter more than headline rate.
Map the market and keep notes crisp.
You’ll find a mix of regional banks, global venture‑debt funds active in MENA, and government‑linked programmes; early‑stage tickets are often in the low single‑digit USD millions.
Focus on lenders that understand subscription revenue and SaaS cash flows. Keep your pitch to predictability, buffer policy, and the milestone debt unlocks. Where possible, align facility currency to revenue to reduce FX risk.
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Borrow only if runway, predictability, and downside planning are in place. Equity is better if metrics are volatile.
Score 1–5 on predictability (collections, churn), efficiency (burn multiple ≤2.0; CAC payback ≤18m), and milestone certainty (specific in 6–9 months). Keep a cash buffer of ≥3 months throughout the facility.
If your board update can show runway with and without debt, a servicing plan under downside, and a covenant summary on one page—you’re ready to engage lenders.
Conventional lines are interest‑bearing with fees and warrants; Shari’ah‑compliant structures use sale/lease‑based contracts with similar economics but different form.
Read the fine print: rates, draw windows, interest‑only periods, final payments, warrants, and security over assets. Ask for clear definitions (MRR, GAAP), cure periods, and limits on MAC (material adverse change).
Prefer light, observable covenants: minimum cash and reporting cadence. Be wary of aggressive revenue tests, IP liens, and wide MAC language.
Simpler beats cheaper. Model true cost (interest + fees + warrant value) and avoid stacking multiple lines without consent and a clear waterfall.
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For seed/Series A, tickets are commonly low‑to‑mid single‑digit USD millions. Expect 4–8 weeks from first call to close if docs are clean.
Run a parallel process with a lender tracker: type (bank/fund), structure (secured/Shari’ah), ticket, covenants, and references. Keep comms crisp and summarise every call in your tracker.
Fast pages signal operational maturity: INP ≤200 ms, LCP ≤2.5 s, CLS ≤0.1. Keep hero images ≤150 KB WebP and reserve space for embeds.
Defer non‑critical scripts, preconnect to your CDN, and lazy‑load charts. Provide static PNGs for quick scans with a link to download the model.
Related reads: Equity vs Venture Debt, Negotiating Term‑sheet Valuation, Runway Calculator.
Show the cash and the true cost.
You aim to extend runway by 9 months to hit a Series A. Facility $2.0m, interest‑only 9 months then 12‑month amortisation; 12% margin; 2% draw fee; 1% final fee; 0.5% warrant at next‑round price. In a base case you service comfortably; in downside you pause hiring and cut programs by 15% until collections stabilise. The warrant dilutes ~0.5% at next round; the IRR of the facility (fees+warrant) lands in the mid‑teens depending on utilisation and timing.
Keep it short, specific, and metric‑led.
Translate headline rate into obligations.
Expect sale/lease‑based structures with similar economics.
Agree how consideration, late‑payment handling, and security are documented. Ensure the structure suits your revenue model and confirm any board approvals or advisory sign‑offs required. As with conventional lines, model cash conservatively.
Get counsel to confirm these before signing.
Optimising for rate over covenants; hiding cash volatility; stacking facilities without consent.
Fix by prioritising simple, observable covenants, publishing a buffer policy, and aligning facility currency with revenue. Keep a lender tracker and update it after every call.
Fast pages help you look like you run a tight ship.
Burn multiple: net burn ÷ net new ARR. CAC payback: months for contribution margin to repay CAC. MAC: material adverse change. Perfection: steps to make security effective against third parties. Warrant: right to buy shares at a fixed price.
Operating context differs by jurisdiction.
UAE: a mix of onshore and free‑zone entities (e.g., DIFC/ADGM) and lenders comfortable with SaaS cash flows. KSA: growing venture ecosystem with increasing lender interest; expect secured lending norms and confirm any local perfection steps. For cross‑border structures, get early tax and FX advice and keep facility currency aligned with revenue where practical.
Make it effortless for credit teams.
Offerings evolve quickly.
Re‑check availability quarterly. Keep a lender tracker with dates, contacts, and term highlights, and maintain a short changelog so the board can see how the market is moving.
Short answers on GCC venture debt.
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