UAE – Mubasher: Elevate, a London and Dubai-based fintech, has secured $5 million in a pre-Series A funding round to boost its expansion into the Middle East and Africa, according to a press release.

Founded in 2021 by Faris Keenan, Khalid Keenan, and Youcef Oudjidane, the fintech provides financial solutions for remote workers and freelancers in emerging markets to improve and manage their finances.

Elevate aims to provide a financial solution to address the common challenges faced by the freelance and remote working community in the MENA region.

The platform enables users to facilitate receiving payments from U.S. and international employers, as well as from major freelancing platforms, such as Upwork, Maqsam, Paypal, and more.

Elevate’s offering includes debit cards for online spending and provides market-leading foreign exchange (FX) rates for sending money home. Additionally, the company allows users to transfer funds back to their local USD accounts for a flat fee of $10.

It is worth noting that funds deposited in Elevate accounts are held with Bangor Savings Bank, a 172-year-old institution in the USA.

This partnership ensures that all customer deposits held with Bangor are FDIC-insured up to $250,000, providing security for residents in countries, such as Egypt, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Khalid Keenan, CEO of Elevate, highlighted: "Platforms like Upwork, Maqsam, and Deel have empowered talent from countries like Egypt to earn in USD on a global scale. However, existing solutions for receiving USD payments have been costly and inefficient.”

“Elevate's mission is to ensure freelancers and remote workers keep as much of their hard-earned money as possible by minimising fees and simplifying the process," Keenan added.

Meanwhile, the fintech company plans to scale up its business into further emerging markets and introduce new financial products to enhance the services available to its users.