MENA’s first licensed crypto service provider “Rain” raises $110 million in Series B funding

The firm aims to utilise this investment to further expand its licensing in other countries and regions, enhance its technology with an advanced trading platform, as well as maintain the growth of its operations as crypto adoption continues to grow globally.

The funding round also witnessed participation from numerous parties including Coinbase Ventures, Global Founders Capital, MEVP, Cadenza Ventures, JIMCOand CMT Digital.

“At Rain, we strongly believe in the long-term value of cryptocurrency and its blockchain technology foundation to change finance globally,” said the co-founding team, Abdullah Almoaiqel, AJ Nelson, Joseph Dallago, and Yehia Badawy, in a joint statement.

“We are very excited about this funding opportunity as it allows us to continue conversations with regulators across the MENA region, Turkey, and Pakistan about the benefits and potential of cryptocurrency. It will also support our overarching mission of providing education and access to cryptocurrency to all of our supported markets,” they added.

The announcement follows Rain’s Series A round of funding, led by MEVP with participation from Coinbase Ventures, during which it raised $6m in January 2021.

Over the past year, the crypto service provider witnessed over $1.9bn in transactions and amassed over 185,000 active users. With over 400 employees, Rain will continue to grow its team across the region hoping to double in size by 2022.

“The cryptocurrency market has seen tremendous growth in the past year and we expect the growth to continue throughout the coming years, with companies and governments increasingly embracing the use of blockchain and digital transformation,” said Badawy, in an interview with Arabian Business.

Commenting on Rain’s role in “bringing the Middle East deeper into the new crypto economy”, Casey Caruso, investing partner at Paradigm, said: “Their emphasis on supporting and educating those new to crypto alongside strong banking and regulatory relationships has helped them build a service people trust.”

While Rain continues to focus on its regional expansion, the platform also seeks to offer a safe and secure space to buy, sell and store cryptocurrencies, as well as provide regular educational opportunities for those interested in learning more about cryptocurrencies.

With that, education and regulation remain at the core of Rain’s values, in which Badawy said: “Rain Management W.L.L., a subsidiary of Rain Financial, the first licensed crypto-asset service provider in the region, worked with the Central Bank of Bahrain during the sandbox phase to create regulations and advance regulatory frameworks around the use of blockchain technologies.”

“Today, we continue to work with regulatory bodies across the region to help build on the frameworks for cryptocurrency. Moreover, we are looking at creating online seminars and workshops in the coming future to educate the public on the future of crypto as well as continue using our platforms, blog and social media, to raise awareness on the top trends and facts surrounding blockchain and cryptocurrencies in the region and worldwide,” he added.