PAYFORT, an Amazon company, has announced the launch of the #StartupStayUp initiative, aimed at supporting start-ups and small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs) across the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The Fintech company has invited over 100 of its start-up and SMB merchant partners to benefit from the initiative, aimed at increasing traffic to their online sites and boosting revenues. The campaign has already launched in the UAE, and will roll out in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
PAYFORT will fund a three-month digital marketing campaign worth AED 1m across multiple media channels. These include organic, paid and influencer-backed social campaigns, video content production, email marketing campaigns, and internal marketing promotions.
The initiative will also provide participating partners increased brand exposure through being featured on PAYFORT’s digital channels. PAYFORT will also waive the maintenance fee for all start-up and SMBs.
The initiative targets start-ups in over ten categories including, groceries, food & beverage, home services, fashion, beauty, entertainment, health & fitness, automotive and e-learning.
“PAYFORT has always strived to provide immediate value to small businesses by supporting their payment processes online,” said Omar Soudodi, Managing Director of PAYFORT. “The PAYFORT team understands that this is a critical time for many start-ups and SMBs. With #StartupStayUp, we aim to help as many businesses as we can to accept payments online quickly and improve cash flow.”
PAYFORT has also joined forces with leading banks in the region to promote the campaign to over five million customers through targeted announcements. Involved in this are Emirates NBD Bank in the UAE, Commercial International Bank (CIB) in Egypt, and The Saudi British Bank (SABB) in Saudi Arabia.
“As a leading UAE bank, we remain deeply committed to supporting start-ups and small businesses, who are vital contributors to the economy,” said Suvo Sarkar, Senior Executive Vice President & Group Head – Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Emirates NBD said. “This initiative will provide our customers with attractive offers and benefits, providing enhanced value and convenience especially during this time.”
Khalid Almuammar, GM Mid-Market and SME, SABB added, “We’re delighted to partner with PAYFORT in the initiative to support Saudi start-ups who are facing unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic. We aim to help new businesses to get off to a good start and contribute to a more diverse and sustainable economy.”
Rashwan Hammady, Head of CIB’s Retail Segment and Product said, “Start-ups need support now more than ever, and we are delighted to collaborate with a leading payments service provider such as PAYFORT in the initiative to lead start-ups towards operational continuity and economic sustainability during these hard times. This partnership emerged from our belief in the significance of our role in bolstering the entrepreneurial ecosystem, in addition to providing value to our customers with deals and offers from their favourite brands and start-ups”
