Ajar Online, the first online rental collection platform in the Middle East, has closed a second investment round led by the Dubai-based BECO Capital, followed by a capital injection from Sharq Ventures, since 2016.
The Kuwaiti FinTech startup gives tenants the possibility to pay their rent online in a secure way, via SMS or e-mail in less than a minute. The cloud-based service oriented to the real estate market simplifies the rental process and saves time and money to both landlords and tenants.
Shaheen AlKhudari, the CEO of Ajar Online, stated that its company aimed to become a preferred property management and online payments platform in Kuwait and beyond. It helped landlords manage multiple properties and collect rents anytime. As a result, the landlords would skip numerous hours of manual work and would save money.
Shaheen also confirmed he would use the fresh capital injection to upgrade the current services and provide even more tools and options for landlords. The CEO would also hire more personnel for the offices in Kuwait, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia. As for global entry, Ajar Online would take this step in early 2018, announced the CEO.
According to one of the investors, Abdulrazaq Al-Mutawa, a partner at Sharq Ventures, the startup had all the necessary skills and qualities to entirely re-define the real estate scene in the MENA region.
Asked about the story behind the company, Shaheen AlKhudari said it was his negative experience with paying rents. He had to wait at long queues in the bank to deposit a cheque or transfer money. Alternatively, he had to chase his landlord continually to pay the rent in person. Therefore, in 2015, AlKhudari started working on the idea to simplify the rental payment process. After conducting detailed market research, he came up with the idea for the online payments. Warba Bank was the first to embrace it and signed a non-exclusive partnership with the founder. Ajar Online officially started in late 2015.