Fintech Sokin gets DFSA licence and opens UAE office to grow team to 100
Fintech Sokin has secured a DFSA licence, opened a UAE office at One Za'abeel and plans to grow its local team to 100 people.
Global fintech firm Sokin has secured a Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) licence and opened a new UAE office at One Za’abeel. It plans to grow its local team to 100 people and has formed a strategic partnership with Seed Group.
Sokin obtained the licence through its Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) office, where it is regulated as a Money Service Provider with a Category 3D licence. The licence covers issuing payment instruments, executing payment transactions, account information and payment initiation services, and advising on and arranging money services.
A partnership with Ruya Community Islamic Bank LLC, licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE, delivers the onshore AED services, and Ruya holds the dirham deposits. UAE businesses can hold a dirham account alongside 28 other currencies.
The UAE team stands at about 65 people, and hiring will include roles in the partnerships team. Sokin entered the UAE nearly three years ago as a strategic partner of Seed Group, a company of The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum.
Platform partners gain embedded local payment rails to move money into and out of the UAE, and across more than 70 other currencies, for their clients. Founded in 2019, Sokin holds licences in 36 countries and runs eight offices.
Businesses move more than $11 billion a year through Sokin’s licences and infrastructure, spanning 70 currencies across 170 countries. The company has raised over $100 million from investors including Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital and Prysm Capital.
Banks and money transfer firms have operated in the UAE for decades. Founder and CEO Vroon Modgill argues that price alone is the wrong battleground. Corporates operating in 10 countries often juggle 10 banking partners, 10 accounting platforms and 10 payment acceptance methods, he says, and Sokin wants to condense that into one.
”This is not a satellite office for us,” Modgill said. “We have a proven business model and we’re doing 100 per cent year-on-year growth.”
