US-headquartered loyalty and rewards platform, Loyyal, has secured the GCC’s first ‘series A’ enterprise grade blockchain capital raise. Built on blockchain and smart contract technology, Loyyal has revolutionized how loyalty programmes are run and rewards delivered.

The deal was facilitated by Naseba’s investor introduction division, with Saudi-based financial services company Integrated Networks (iNet) as the lead investor and supplemented by the region’s leading exchange house, UAE Exchange Group.

The deal, closed in just four months, positions iNet and UAE Exchange not only as investors, but also as Loyyal’s strategic partners.

“Enterprises in the region are beginning to switch from buying solutions off the shelf to a strategy of blending private equity/venture capital with traditional tech purchases,” said Nicholas Watson, Managing Director, Naseba, a global business facilitation company that has enabled technology deal-flow since 2003.

This deal, as a blueprint, sets precedent in helping regional enterprises expedite innovation. Recognizing this trend, Naseba has championed adoption through deal facilitation platforms. It supports companies looking to secure investments or commercial deals with partners and buyers, by combining market intelligence with B2B introductions.

“There’s an incredible opportunity for tech companies here to leverage digitization programmes backed by government and private sector entities,” said Watson. “We are grateful to Loyyal for letting us share in their success and highlight their story.”

Gregory Simon, CEO and Co-Founder, Loyyal, added: “Being present in the region through our local office, clients, investors and partners such as Naseba have enabled us to learn the ins and outs of making business happen here. We believe this region will become the heart of cutting-edge blockchain innovation. Like all startups, we were bootstrapping our capital raise process, but ultimately decided to partner with Naseba to leverage their history and business network. They have access to information that many others don’t, which allowed us to achieve tangible outcomes in the region’s largest economy, Saudi Arabia.”

“Through blockchain, Loyyal’s model provides significant cost-savings for the multi-billion loyalty and rewards industry. The GCC is a great market for us to deliver this in.”

Naseba and Loyyal are moving to the next stage of their plans to roll out enterprise blockchain in the region, which includes sharing Loyyal’s story at Naseba’s Enterprise FinTech Summit taking place in Dubai this October.