Bahrain-based digital consumer finance platform Skyro said it plans to expand into Saudi Arabia and has appointed former Mastercard executive Maria Medvedeva as managing director for the Middle East.
In her new role, Medvedeva will oversee Skyro's market entry in Saudi Arabia and its broader expansion across the region, including regulatory engagement, partnerships, local operations and product development.
Unveiling the big plans, Skyro said it has already opened an office in Riyadh and is hiring staff ahead of obtaining the necessary regulatory licence. The company plans to offer consumer and small- and medium-sized enterprise financing in Saudi Arabia, subject to regulatory approval.
Skyro is investing in its Saudi operations to support this expansion, drawing on the consumer-financing foundation it has established across South-East Asia while developing services tailored to the kingdom's needs.
Beyond Saudi Arabia, the company is also evaluating further expansion opportunities across the wider Middle East region, said the company in a statement.
In her new role, Medvedeva will lead the company's expansion across Middle East markets. She will oversee the company's market-entry strategy and build-out across the region – from establishing local teams and operating models to steering regulatory engagement, forging partnerships with local institutions.
She will help shape Skyro's product and go-to-market approach market by market – driving the group's long-term growth across the GCC in step with the region's economic-diversification and digital-economy agendas, including Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, it stated.
Arsen Liametov, Skyro co-founder and CEO, said: "Since launching in South-East Asia in 2022, Skyro has built a credit portfolio of more than $200 million, while the app has surpassed 7 million users. This momentum, which is moving us towards profitability, shows that our ecosystem business model built around consumer finance has significant potential in other emerging markets."
"We have begun establishing our operations in Saudi Arabia and intend to offer consumer financing as well as services for SMEs in this growing and attractive market once the necessary regulatory approvals are in place. Maria's appointment will strengthen our expansion into the Middle East," he stated.
An experienced financial technology executive, Medvedeva spent more than seven years as a vice president at Mastercard across the Mena region, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. She also became the first woman to hold a senior country leadership role in Saudi Arabia, who has made significant contributions to developing payment technologies for consumers and merchants in support of the Kingdom's Vision 2030.
On her new role, Medvedeva said: "I am delighted to lead Skyro's expansion across the Middle East, a region shaping one of the most ambitious visions for the future of finance. My commitment is to build here for the long term: with local teams, trusted partnerships, and genuine respect for the markets we enter."
"The most enduring businesses are built in a place, not simply imported into it, and I believe Skyro has the team and the discipline to grow responsibly and profitably alongside the region," she stated.
"As part of its Saudi expansion, Skyro plans to build out a broader ecosystem of digital financial services spanning both consumers and businesses. We see our role as a complementary partner to the Kingdom's established financial institutions, expanding access to finance and opening up new opportunities for the country's broader economic growth while supporting the development of innovative fintech locally," she added.-TradeArabia News Service
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