Beehive
“Can a DFSA-regulated P2P marketplace scale into the default digital SME working-capital lender across the GCC by layering wholesale institutional funding on top of its retail investor base?”
Founded2014
HQDIFC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
IndustryFintech / Lending
The story
Founded in 2014 as the MENA region's first regulated P2P SME lending marketplace under DFSA. Originally matched retail/institutional investors to SME borrowers via a marketplace model with Sharia-compliant Murabaha contracts. Has since evolved beyond pure P2P by securing wholesale institutional funding — most notably a structured debt facility from Goldman Sachs and Magellan Capital in 2025 — moving the funding mix toward balance-sheet/warehouse-style financing while retaining the digital SME-lending front end across UAE, Oman, and KSA.
Product timeline
2014
Founded as a peer-to-peer SME lending platform in DIFC, Dubai· launch
2014
Launched Sharia-compliant Murabaha-based P2P financing for SMEs and investors· lending
2025
Secured first-of-its-kind structured funding from Goldman Sachs Bank USA and Magellan Capital — initial AED 500M deployment· lending
2026
Strengthened integrations with AECB (Al Etihad Credit Bureau) and Emirates NBD to improve credit data and disbursement· banking
Regulated entities
DFSA-regulated P2P lending platform
DIFC (UAE)
Beehive P2P Limited (license CL2352)
The stack
Lending
Beehive P2P Limited (in-house)Working Capital Finance (up to 80% of receivables on invoices due ≤120 days)Business Funding (term financing for SMEs)MicrofinanceSharia-compliant Murabaha financingGoldman Sachs / Magellan Capital structured funding facility (AED 500M)
Accounting gap: minor