The archive · Money & Fintech · Strategic decision · 2019–2026
Fasset's stablecoin-corridor bet: $68M SBI round makes the Dubai fintech a $1B unicorn
Founded in 2019 to open global assets to frontier markets, Fasset rebuilt around stablecoin settlement rails and hit a $1B valuation by Aug 2026.
Fasset
What the business is
An AI-routing stablecoin neobank: one account to hold, spend, send and invest across currencies and assets, built on Own Network corridors connecting banks, telcos and payment providers.
Starting capital：Over $150M raised by Aug 2026 — including a $22M Series A in 2022, a $51M Series B in May 2026 and the $68M Series C in Aug 2026.
How it started
Founded in 2019 by Mohammad Raafi Hossain and Daniel Ahmed, Fasset began as a regulated digital-asset gateway for the next billion people: buy, sell, send and store digital assets and real-world-asset tokens across some of the world's most valuable remittance corridors. Hossain, who had worked at the UAE Prime Minister's Office and the UN, saw blockchain as a way to extend financial access to frontier economies. By 2022 Fasset had taken authorizations in Bahrain's sandbox and Malaysia's Labuan, secured an EU crypto authorization, raised a $22M Series A, and partnered with Mastercard to expand financial services in Indonesia.
What happened
Fasset then rebuilt around Own Network, its regulated infrastructure connecting banks, telcos, payment and liquidity providers across 100+ banking corridors, with AI routing transactions by cost, speed and availability and stablecoins used as settlement rails where they help. It secured a Dubai VASP licence and went live in the UAE in 2024. In May 2026 SBI Group led a $51M Series B; three months later SBI led a $68M Series C at a $1B valuation, bringing 2026 funding to $119M. The company says it processes $40B+ in annualized volume for 3M+ wallets across 125 countries and 1,000+ enterprises.
How it ended up
Still scaling as of late Aug 2026: unicorn status with fresh capital earmarked for agentic AI, stablecoin settlement and tokenized-asset infrastructure across emerging-market corridors.
Background
Fasset's founding bet was that the barrier to financial opportunity is geography: people in emerging markets pay high remittance fees, hold weak currencies and face minimum-balance rules, so they never reach global assets. The 2019 Dubai/London startup attacked that with a regulated digital-asset gateway — buy, sell, send and store crypto and tokenized real-world assets — aimed at the world's richest remittance corridors, with authorizations in Bahrain, Malaysia's Labuan and the EU by 2022.
The strategic pivot came when Fasset stopped presenting itself as a consumer crypto app and rebuilt around Own Network: licensed infrastructure connecting banks, telcos, payment providers and liquidity partners across more than 100 corridors, with AI choosing routes by cost and speed and stablecoins settling value between markets. A Dubai VARA licence and 2024 UAE launch gave it a Gulf home base, and the company now reports over $40B in annualized transaction volume for 3M+ wallets across 125 countries.
Capital followed the infrastructure story. Japan's SBI Group led a $51M Series B in May 2026, then led again in August with a $68M Series C at a $1B valuation — three months between rounds — making Fasset one of the Gulf's newest fintech unicorns. The valuation rests on company-reported volume and wallet counts, but the licensing footprint across the GCC, Asia and Europe is what investors say they are buying.
As of 2026-08-25 the company is scaling: the new money funds agentic-AI corridor banking, stablecoin settlement and tokenized-asset infrastructure, and SBI opens a distribution network that reaches bank-account remittances to roughly 200 countries.
What has to be true
- Remittance fees averaging around 6.5% and 1.7B unbanked people made cross-border access the real gap, not another payment interface.
- Licences in Bahrain, Labuan, the EU and Dubai let Fasset plug into corridors directly instead of renting access from incumbents.
- SBI Group brought strategic distribution — a partner network covering bank-account remittances to about 200 countries — and credibility for stablecoin infrastructure.
- The $1B mark rests on company-reported figures ($40B volume, 3M wallets) rather than audited financials, which is the main open question about the valuation.
What can be applied
When the bottleneck is access, not demand, do not just stack another app on the old rails — own the regulated plumbing underneath, because that is where the compounding value sits.
Aftermath
As of 2026-08-25, Fasset is scaling as a $1B-valuation fintech. It raised $119M in 2026 alone — $51M Series B in May and $68M Series C in August, both anchored by Japan's SBI Group — and says it processes $40B+ annualized volume for 3M+ wallets in 125 countries and 1,000+ enterprises. The capital is earmarked for Own Network expansion, agentic AI for corridor banking, stablecoin settlement and tokenized assets. Its regulated footprint spans the GCC, Asia and Europe, and through SBI Remit it gains access to bank-account remittance rails serving about 200 countries.
Sources
- Fasset hits $1 billion valuation after $68 million Series C
- Fasset reaches USD 1 bn valuation after USD 68 mn Series C round
- Mohammad Raafi Hossain: CEO At Digital Asset Firm Fasset Explains Why They're Focused On Southeast Asia
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