• Saudi proptech Rize has secured a SAR187.5 million ($50 million) asset-backed Murabaha facility from Jadwa Investment to finance its portfolio of residential rental contracts.
• Founded in 2021 by Ibrahim Balilah and Mohammed Alfraihi, Rize operates a Rent Now, Pay Later model that allows eligible tenants to split their annual rent into 12 monthly payments, while landlords receive their rent upfront. The contracts are documented through Saudi Arabia’s Ejar platform.
• The facility will be used specifically to finance Rize’s rental-contract portfolio, allowing the company to preserve shareholder equity for product development, technology, talent, partnerships and further expansion across Saudi Arabia.
• In January 2025, Rize closed a Series A investment round worth $35 million in a mix of equity and debt. 
• The company is backed by investors including SEEDRA Ventures, Raed Ventures, HALA Ventures, JOA Capital, Aqar Platform, Bunat Ventures, NAMA Ventures, Watheeq Financial and Razam Investment.

Press release:

Saudi proptech Rize has secured a SAR187.5 million ($50 million) asset-backed Murabaha facility from Jadwa Investment to finance its growing portfolio of residential rental contracts.

Unlike an equity funding round, the facility is dedicated to financing the rental contracts underlying Rize's business model, separating the capital required to fund its rental portfolio from the equity used to finance the company's corporate growth.

Founded by Ibrahim Balilah and Mohammed Alfraihi, Rize operates a flexible rental payments platform in Saudi Arabia that enables eligible tenants to convert annual rent obligations into 12 monthly payments, while landlords receive the agreed rent upfront.

Under its model, Rize pays the rent to the landlord in one or two payments through Saudi Arabia's Ejar platform under a master lease contract, before subleasing the property to the tenant, who pays the rent monthly through Ejar. Rize states explicitly that this structure does not constitute cash financing to the tenant.

The new Murabaha facility will finance this portfolio of rental contracts, providing Rize with additional capacity to meet demand for monthly rental payment options without relying solely on shareholder capital to fund the underlying contracts.

“What makes it particularly significant is that it directly finances our rental portfolio, allowing the capital invested by our shareholders to remain focused on product development, talent, and expansion,” said Ibrahim Balilah, co-founder and CEO of Rize.

The company plans to use its equity capital to continue investing in product development, technology, talent, partnerships and expansion across Saudi Arabia, while the Jadwa facility supports the financing requirements of its rental portfolio.

Rize says more than 200,000 tenants have used its flexible rental solutions, while its network includes more than 3,000 landlords and 1,200 verified real estate brokers. The company offers its monthly rent model across Saudi Arabia.

The platform is licensed by Saudi Arabia's Real Estate General Authority (REGA) for electronic real estate brokerage and marketing and property management, and its rental contracts are executed electronically through Ejar.

Rize is backed by investors including SEEDRA Ventures, Raed Ventures, HALA Ventures, JOA Capital, Aqar Platform, Bunat Ventures, NAMA Ventures, Watheeq Financial and Razam Investment.

The company estimates Saudi Arabia's residential rental market at around SAR150 billion annually, and plans to use the additional financing capacity to grow its rental portfolio as demand for alternative rent-payment structures increases.