Ziina, a UAE-based, YC-backed start-up on a mission to provide financial freedom to everyone in the Middle East, is coming to Jordan. The Jordanian expansion is the latest milestone in the fintech company’s rapid succession of innovation, having launched their digital wallet in February 2022 and their proprietary payment keyboard, the Ziiboard, just this month.
Ziina’s first international venture represents a sort of homecoming for co-founders Faisal and Sarah Toukan. Both founders grew up in Amman before going on to further their education in the United States. Their decision to relocate to Jordan before any other Middle Eastern country stemmed from a desire to better their home country by increasing access to financial services.
Faisal Toukan, CEO and Co-Founder of Ziina said, “The median age in Jordan is around 23 years old, which makes most of the population digitally native. The Central Bank of Jordan has recognized this, naming microfinance, digital financial services, and small and medium-sized enterprise finance among its core sectoral pillars. As a proud Jordanian, I am delighted to introduce Ziina to my home country. Our team have worked tirelessly to develop a product that makes the payment process infinitely faster and more convenient, while also prioritising a delightful user experience. We have no doubt that Ziina will make getting paid much easier for every single Jordanian.”
Ziina is now one of the few MENA companies to have made it to Y-Combinator. Avenir Growth, Goodwater Capital, ANIM, Oman Technology Fund, Class 5 Global, Long Journey Ventures, Graph Ventures, Jabbar Internet Group, Wamda, and FJ Labs, as well as employees and executives from PayPal, Instagram, Stripe, Revolut, Venmo, Brex, Checkout.com, Notion, Block, Airbnb, and Deel, successfully raised USD 9 million during a seed round.
A strong team is required to usher in a new era of digital consumer finance. The Jordanian brothers and their Californian cofounder Andrew Gold have assembled a world-class team with experience from Apple, Uber, Coinbase, Careem, Yandex, Funding Circle, Bain & Co, Talabat, and Oracle.
The design of Ziina’s product has been recognized and awarded nine international UI/UX design awards, including the Red Dot Award. With just a few taps, users can easily send and receive payments to anyone. With GIFs, photos, text, and emojis, Ziina eliminates the need for tedious IBAN and swift code entry and makes the payment experience seamless and social.
Ziina believes that access should be a right, not a privilege. The company is focused on creating cutting-edge tools that are enjoyable to use, allowing individuals to gain more control over their financial future. Ziina believes that financial prosperity should be in your hands; it is paving the way for the future of personal finance.
Peer-to-peer payment services are growing in popularity around the world because they eliminate the need for physical cash payments. Jordan represents the next exciting chapter in Ziina’s mission to achieve financial freedom in the Middle East.
