Manama – Sharikat Mubasher: Skyro, a Bahrain-headquartered digital consumer finance platform operating in Southeast Asia, is preparing to enter Saudi Arabia as part of its broader Middle East expansion.

As per a recent press release, the company has appointed Maria Medvedeva, a former Mastercard executive, as Managing Director for the Middle East. She will oversee Skyro’s regional market-entry strategy, including building local teams, developing partnerships and engaging with regulators.

Skyro has already established an office in Riyadh and is hiring for roles including developers as it works toward securing the required regulatory approvals. The company plans to offer consumer financing and services for small and medium-sized enterprises in the Kingdom.

Arsen Liametov, Skyro’s Co-founder and CEO, said the company has built a credit portfolio exceeding $200 million and attracted more than 7 million users since launching in Southeast Asia in 2022. He said the company plans to apply its consumer finance model to other emerging markets, including Saudi Arabia.

Medvedeva previously spent more than seven years as a vice president at Mastercard, covering markets including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the wider MENA region. She was also the first woman to hold a senior country leadership role at Mastercard in Saudi Arabia.

Skyro said it is also assessing opportunities to expand into other Middle Eastern markets.