Small exporters sit closest to a $2.5 trillion gap in trade finance. A Muscat firm ships today and waits 60 to 90 days for payment, while banks want years of financial records before bridging that wait. Oman’s mamun has raised $3M to underwrite the gap with AI instead.
Phaze Ventures led the seed through its Oman Fund, with Jasoor Ventures joining. Phaze backs homegrown, AI-enabled Omani businesses, so the cheque reads as a diversification bet as much as a fintech one.
Underwriting the shipment, not the balance sheet
Instead of the exporter’s books, mamun’s system assesses the trade itself: the contract, the buyer, the shipping documents and the history between the two firms. An origination engine screens deals as they form, and investors on the platform then fund the gap.
The company was built across the corridor on purpose. Muscat holds the licensed home and origination base, Abu Dhabi links Gulf capital to UAE flows, and Hong Kong serves as financing gateway for Belt and Road routes. About 40% of settlements already clear through Hong Kong institutions.
Why the border is the moat
Each cross-border deal spans two regulators, two banking systems and two legal regimes, and its collateral travels with the goods. That complexity kept most regional platforms domestic, and it is what gives a three-founder Omani company a defensible niche.
Timing helps. Omani non-oil exports rose roughly 10% year on year over the first seven months of 2026, re-exports climbed 13.6%, and in January the Asian Development Bank found 84% of banks already applying AI to trade finance risk.
Founders Saleh Al Tamami, Mohammed Al Tamami and Ahmed Al-Issaei will spend the round on origination and underwriting capacity.
