Forus
Saudi debt crowdfunding platform that connects small and medium-sized businesses seeking working capital and invoice finance with investors. Founded in 2019 by Nosaibah Alrajhi and licensed by the Saudi Central Bank.
Industry: Debt crowdfunding for SMEs | Location: Saudi Arabia | Founded: 2019 | Total Funding: USD 60M
About Forus
Forus is a Saudi debt-based crowdfunding platform through which investors fund short-term financing for small and medium-sized businesses in Saudi Arabia. The operating company is Forus Debt-Crowdfunding Company, a closed joint stock company. Forus describes its financing as Shariah compliant and structured as murabaha, a cost-plus arrangement without interest. Its website says more than 300 high-net-worth and institutional investors use it as an alternative-debt investment partner.
Nosaibah Alrajhi founded Forus in 2019 and is its chief executive. She is a former investment banker with an MBA from IE Business School in Madrid. Arab News reported that it received a special licence in July 2019 to test its model, and lending began in 2020. In January 2023 the Saudi Central Bank announced licences for Forus and Tameed as debt-based crowdfunding companies after both tested their solutions in its regulatory sandbox.
Forus offers three financing products. Working capital financing provides credit of up to SAR 5 million for terms of one to 36 months. Invoice finance covers up to 80 percent of an invoice for one to 12 months. Point-of-sale financing of up to SAR 500,000 is secured on the products purchased.
In August 2021 Forus said it had deployed more than SAR 60 million to 57 businesses. In January 2025 it secured a $60 million securitisation facility from Fasanara Capital, a London-based investment manager, which Forus expected to use to fund more than $150 million of working capital loans. Forus then said it had provided more than $390 million to over 400 Saudi SMEs.
Forus raised a Series A round in August 2021 of undisclosed size, co-led by Yazeed Alrajhi and Brothers Holdings and the Riyad Fintech Fund. Audited financial statements for 2024, signed by the auditor RSM in August 2025, show revenue of SAR 5.2 million and a net loss of SAR 7.0 million, against revenue of SAR 12.6 million and a small profit in 2023 as restated.
The latest developments reported are the January 2025 facility and the 2024 results. Forus states on its website that it is licensed by the Saudi Central Bank for crowdfunding activities.
Leadership
- Nosaibah Alrajhi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer