Truelayer and BVNK veterans have successfully raised $6.6 million for their startup, which aims to build the infrastructure necessary for real-time cross-border payments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
The funding round was spearheaded by Northzone, with contributions from Flourish Ventures, Alter Global, and angel investors, including the founder of Flutterwave.
Based in Dubai, Fuse highlights the challenges businesses face when expanding into the MENA region, including high costs and the complexity of various regulatory frameworks and banking systems unique to each country. To address these issues, Fuse is developing a straightforward and dependable unified API that facilitates payments across key markets such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and beyond.
The company provides end-to-end solutions for last-mile payouts and first-mile collections, utilizing virtual IBAN technology along with its in-house compliance systems and proprietary tools. This setup allows businesses to conduct real-time cross-border and local payments without the need for establishing local accounts.
Having launched with flagship client dLocal, Fuse’s technology has already been adopted by global brands like Deel, Airbnb, and Etsy.
Fuse was co-founded by George Davis, a serial entrepreneur and former payments lead at TrueLayer, and James Smith, who previously headed engineering teams at TrueLayer and BVNK.
CEO George Davis asserts, “Before Fuse, the infrastructure for complex financial services like virtual IBANs simply didn’t exist in the region. This year, it’s all about scaling to meet the immense demand in MENA. While we initially focused on the US-Middle East corridor, we are now expanding into Europe and Asia to enable faster, more efficient payments between these regions and the Gulf countries.”