“Can a UAE-domiciled payment gateway become the full financial OS — acquiring, cards, and lending — for the country's 5,000+ SMB merchant base?”
Founded 2018 as a UAE-focused payment gateway competing with Telr, Network International and PayTabs. Has since expanded beyond card acquiring into adjacent SMB financial products — Tap-on-Phone soft POS, prepaid corporate expense cards, and merchant lending up to AED 500,000 — positioning itself as a multi-product fintech for UAE small businesses rather than a pure PSP.
Foloosi processes payments through Foloosi Payment Gateway (self-operated).
Foloosi's lending and capital products are provided by Foloosi Lending (in-house).
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 2 layers in Foloosi's stack: Payments / PSP (Foloosi Payment Gateway (self-operated)); Lending (Foloosi Lending (in-house) and Foloosi Business Funding (up to AED 500,000, 2-12 month tenure, ~1.5% monthly interest)).
Foloosi is founded in 2018 and headquartered in Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai, UAE.
Foloosi has raised $2.5M in total (latest round: Angel III (2020)).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Foloosi and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.