Octa raises $2.25m to automate accounts receivable for SMEs

By Gloria Methri

OCTA, a FinTech startup revolutionising accounts receivable management for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has closed its USD 2.25 million pre-seed round. Quona Capital and Sadu Capital co-led the round, which also saw participation from Sukna Ventures, Plus VC, 500 Global, and notable angel investors, including Pawel Iwanow, Chief Payment Officer at Fresha, and Dom Monhardt, Director of Product Design at Tap Payments.

OCTA was founded in early 2024 by Jon Santillan, a returning founder of 500 Global, and Nupur Mitta, an ex-BCG employee who leveraged their professional experience at Careem.

“Late payments, managing multiple tools for invoicing, customer follow-ups, disputes, accessing finance, and recovering debt—these are the things that slow down growth,” said Santillan. “On average, 60% of B2B invoices in the UAE are paid late, and businesses spend 40 days chasing overdue payments. Imagine trying to grow your business while constantly worrying about cash flow, handling disputes, or trying to recover money you’re owed. It is absolutely crippling to business growth.

OCTA changes all that. The platform automates the process of collecting payments, from when a contract is signed until the cash is in the business’ account. With OCTA, users can upload a contract or use a template to create invoices, and OCTA handles the rest. The platform syncs with the business’ accounting software, tracks invoices and assigns each customer a collection score.

Based on this, OCTA automates reminders and follow-ups and even provides financing options. If there’s a dispute, OCTA checks the contract to avoid the usual back-and-forth. The platform also helps businesses access financing quickly and provides tools to recover debt efficiently.

“We’re building a global company from the Middle East to change how businesses collect payments and manage cash flow, with an initial focus on Saudi Arabia,” said Santillan.

Since its inception, OCTA has facilitated $28 million of receivables, with clients including Careem, Lean Technologies, Ogram, Money Hash, and Gameball. These tech-forward teams are using OCTA to streamline their accounts receivable processes and reduce the time it takes to get paid.