Social investing platform InvestSky has received a category four licence with retail endorsement from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
This comes after it raised $3.4m (£2.8m, €3.2m) in a pre-seed funding round.
InvestSky is a social investing commission-free platform tailored for retail investors in the GCC. The platform allows users to buy fractional stocks starting from $1 and provides a social community for users to collaborate.
It will also provide market data to allow investors to make informed decisions aligned with their investment principles whether that is shariah-compliance or a focus on positive social and environmental impacts.
Nitish Mittal, chief executive of InvestSky, said: “We founded InvestSky on the recognition that retail investors are a hugely influential group across the Middle East, yet the offering for them is clearly lagging behind.
“The region has not scratched the surface when it comes to the engagement and education of retail investors, especially considering the significant purchasing power, high GDP per capita and beneficial demographics. We intend to offer an empowering platform that helps educate our users to make sound investment decisions; powered by socially connected tools that will help build a collaborative community in the region.”
Turki Alshaikh, co-founder of InvestSky, added: “The retail investor services market in the region is still highly untapped. The number of retail investors using fintech solutions grew by more than 180% over the past year, in Saudi alone, according to the Capital Markets Authority.
“Beyond this, we see a big gap in financial inclusion, with female retail investors making up less than 27% of investors. We believe that educating our users is key to building a sustainable market by improving both financial literacy and inclusion.”
