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CoinMena secures $9.5m in seed round to accelerate regional expansion

Investors in the round included Beco Capital, Kenetic, Arab Bank Switzerland, Bunat Ventures, Alameda Research, Rua Growth Fund and Girnas Capital alongside a number of select global angel investors.

Bahrain-headquartered CoinMena has secured $9.5 million in its first seed funding round, from top regional and international investors in the crypto and venture space, in a move to further dominate the Mena market.

Investors in the round included Beco Capital, Kenetic, Arab Bank Switzerland, Bunat Ventures, Alameda Research, Rua Growth Fund and Girnas Capital alongside a number of select global angel investors.

“CoinMena’s fundraise will mainly fund the further development of the platform and product, user acquisition and retention as well as international expansion. The region has lagged in terms of crypto adoption, so I'm expecting a huge increase in the percentage of Mena residents that make their first crypto investment,” said Talal Tabbaa, co-founder, CoinMena.

“Crypto is a unique asset class that takes many shapes including a store of value, medium of payment, financial instruments, NFTs and others. The most popular for payments is stablecoins (crypto-assets that are pegged to a traditional currency) as they give users the speed and efficiency of crypto, but are pegged to the USD, which is what is used to price most goods and services today. Making a payment in a stablecoin like USDC is much more efficient (faster and cheaper) than a credit card payment.”

Launched in early 2021 by Dina Saman, Talal Tabbaa, and Yazan Barghuthi, CoinMena was built primarily to address a market gap that existed for easy and safe access to crypto investing.

Today, as a fully regulated, onshore crypto exchange licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, CoinMena has not only successfully bridged the gap but also become the go-to exchange, known for its prompt transactions, a wide variety of assets, excellent customer service, and easy-to-use mobile app. Recently, CoinMena entered into an agreement with the Dubai World Trade Centre to build the next blockchain and crypto hub in the UAE.

CoinMena’s investor Beco Capital is a technology-focused venture capital whose well-known investments include Mena’s three unicorns: Swvl, Kitopi, and Careem. Hong Kong’s Kenetic is known for its investment into BlockFi, a leading crypto lending platform, and Securitize, a leading digital asset securities firm.

Dany Farha, co-founder and managing partner of Beco Capital, said: “We had been searching for a while for the combination of the strength of the team and depth of vision that the team at CoinMena set out to build. We are very excited to partner with this stellar team in delivering financial inclusion, investing, and saving in a crypto native manner, in a hyper-local manner, all whilst being regulated and adhering to the highest levels of governance and compliance for all stakeholders.”

Arab Bank (Switzerland) Ltd., the sister company of Arab Bank plc, is a recognized Swiss Bank offering Digital Assets services since 2019. Bunat Ventures is a venture builder and VC firm focused on incubating and investing in promising regional startups. Alameda Research, owned by crypto billionaire Sam-Bankman Fried, is a quantitative cryptocurrency trading firm that provides liquidity in cryptocurrency and digital assets markets.

Rani Jabban, Managing Director at Arab Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. commented, “As a pioneering bank in Digital Assets with a strong foothold in the Middle East, we believe that our strategic partnership with CoinMena will pave the way forward for greater adoption in the region."

Jehan Chu, Founder of Kenetic, said, “CoinMena is positioned for explosive growth, and Kenetic is excited to lend our extensive experience and deep network to support them as they provide superior crypto liquidity and user experience in a new era of digital finance throughout the Mena region.”

CoinMena’s sign-up process takes less than a minute and can be performed on its simple, seamless, and highly intuitive mobile app, which is designed for both beginners and professional traders. The exchange’s services are currently available to residents of Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman, with a view to expanding to other countries in the Mena region.

— sandhya@khaleejtimes.com