N A D I N E M E Z H E R
CMO, Co-Founder
In an exclusive interview, I had the opportunity to speak with Nadine, the co-founder of Sawra, about her inspiration for founding the groundbreaking financial services platform and the challenges she faced as a female entrepreneur in the male-dominated finance industry. With her wealth of experience and industry knowledge, Nadine shared valuable insights on how Sawra has impacted the finance industry in the Middle East and offered advice for women interested in pursuing a career in finance. I was fascinated by Nadine’s unique perspective and thrilled to learn more about Sawra’s role in shaping the future of finance in the region. Keep reading to discover the key takeaways from our conversation.
What inspired you to co-found Sarwa?
Sarwa was born out of a need we saw in the market, but most importantly in our direct community and circle of friends and family. Investing in the region was only available to a very select few that had a lot of money, so you needed wealth to be able to build wealth. And financial services generally were very expensive. We would hear on daily basis stories of people who had horrific experiences with the industry: lock-ins, hidden fees, hefty penalties…and no proper retirement plans.
So we wanted to help bring the concept of democratized investing to the region and provide an investing app that made it easy, accessible, and affordable. And we build a solution for that problem.
Today, Sarwa is the leading investing and personal finance platform for young professionals in the Middle East. The one-stop app offers hands-off auto-investing with Sarwa Invest, $0 self-directed trading of stocks, ETFs & Crypto with Sarwa Trade, as well as a high-yield cash account with Sarwa Save.
What are some of the challenges you have faced as a female founder in the finance industry?
Being a business owner is challenging by itself. Adding the layer of gender to the equation makes it even more complex. The reality is, the industry has been predominantly male, and not a lot of female voices are heard. It is human nature to feel more connected with those we feel mirror us, and so, as data shows, male-led venture capital firms tend to invest in male founders and hire male partners to give some numbers:
In the US, only around 2% of VC funding goes to women-led startups – the numbers are stagnant around that year on year (they go up a bit and down a bit). Using the U.S. because it is one of the countries with the most access to data. While women-owned or led firms account for 40% of all privately held firms. Now of course there are many reasons why. But for example, a Masschallenge study conducted with BCG in 2019 showed that it was mainly bias based. Another finding is that 92% of partners in VCs are men and most firms still don’t have a single female partner. When women venture capitalists do make the decisions, they’re twice as likely to invest in female founding teams.
This creates a ripple effect in the ecosystem. Any minorities in any set-up will face biases, whether conscious or unconscious. It wasn’t always easy to make my voice heard in a male-dominated environment, but I also learned to recognize the opportunities.
And it is our job together, to change this dynamic, and to voice it, so we can turn challenges into possibilities.
How has Sarwa impacted the finance industry in the Middle East?
Sarwa was the first company to receive an Innovation Testing License in the UAE from the Dubai Financial Service Authority, which allowed us to provide investment services for young retail investors. We worked closely with regulators and supported the creation of laws that govern our category today.
We challenged the way the industry was providing services here. We used tech for fast onboarding and lower costs for end users. It makes it more efficient and provides convenience and practicality: you don’t have to drive all the way to an office and sign a bunch of papers and go through many documents to open an account in a financial institution.
As a Fintech, we will continue to use technology to optimize our products and services. Our plan for the future is to expand and become the favourite money management tool by continuing to innovate and launching new products to meet our customers’ needs.
Whether it’s our products, the technology used or the way we work internally, innovation has always been a core value for us.
What advice would you give to women who are interested in pursuing a career in finance?
To go in with the mindset of: I will make it. I can only speak from my own experience, but I do think that If it is something they want, there is nothing that can stop them. It is not always easy, and sometimes, the balancing act is challenging. But if it is something that they truly want, then they can.
I would say: do challenge the status quo – just because things have been done a certain way does not mean they need to continue. Voice your value, stand by what you believe, and do think big.
Sarwa Digital Wealth (Capital) Limited is regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) as a Category 3C entity in the ADGM. Sarwa Digital Wealth Limited is regulated by the DFSA in the DIFC. Sarwa Digital Wealth (Capital) Limited and Sarwa Digital Wealth Limited are two separate legal entities but are collectively referred to as “Sarwa”. Sarwa Crypto, Sarwa Trade, and Sarwa Save are products offered through Sarwa Digital Wealth (Capital) Limited regulated by the FSRA in the ADGM. These offerings are not regulated by the DFSA and are not offered to DIFC clients. Sarwa is not a bank. We can unlock high-yield accounts through our banking partners. This material is intended only for jurisdictions where Sarwa Digital Wealth (Capital) Limited is authorised to provide services and does not constitute an offer or solicitation to provide services in any jurisdiction where we are not permitted to do so. All investing involves risk.
To learn more, visit www.sarwa.co
