UAE Seed Round · AED 5.0M · 15% Equity · Closing Soon

    The UAE's NFC category — funded once, owned forever.

    • 557K UAE SMEs · Gulf’s most networking-led economy
    • 95%+ smartphone penetration
    • Zero dirham-priced NFC + native CRM platform
    • AED 5.0M = 15% · before Dubai · Abu Dhabi · Sharjah
    AED 138M+
    UAE Card TAM · MoE 2023 bottom-up
    AED 6.47M
    Year 1 Revenue Target
    AED 3.16M
    Year 1 Net Profit
    Y1 Revenue / Investment
    Card Scale Y1 → Y3
    01 · Executive Summary

    The whole UAE business in 5 lines.

    For the investor who has 90 seconds.

    The Business

    UAE’s first Professional Brand Presence Platform — premium NFC smart cards + brand pages + native Sales CRM, 100% built in-house.

    Positioning

    UAE professionals waste 88% of paper cards and pay AED 18K+/yr for fragmented CRMs. We replace it all with one tap — at AED 249 a card.

    Investment Rationale

    557K+ registered businesses (UAE Ministry of Economy) · SMEs = 95% of companies · World-leading ~99% smartphone penetration (Statista 2024) · GCC contactless payments growing ~13% CAGR. No serious UAE-native NFC + CRM player.

    Key Metrics

    AED 249 ASP · AED 130 gross profit per card · 52% card margin. Year 1 target AED 6.47M revenue / AED 3.16M net profit on 25K cards across Dubai + Abu Dhabi + Sharjah.

    Deal Contours

    Raising AED 5.0M for Year 1 UAE operations — UAE Team AED 1.67M · UAE Marketing AED 1.5M · Office/Ops AED 800K · India Remote AED 220K · 20% Contingency AED 838K.

    02 · The Problem

    The UAE relationship layer is broken — and overpriced.

    557K+ businesses, ~99% smartphone penetration — and not a single UAE-focused NFC + CRM platform owns the gap.

    88%

    UAE paper cards binned within 7 days — every lost card is a lost lead and a lost AED 1,000+ deal.

    5+

    tools a UAE professional juggles — LinkedIn, website, Calendly, HubSpot, portfolio. Nothing unified.

    AED 18K+/yr

    Salesforce / HubSpot pricing — out of reach for the UAE’s 557K+ registered businesses (95% SMEs).

    0

    serious UAE-native NFC + CRM player offering local fulfilment + native pipeline at SME pricing.

    Why now · Why us

    The UAE has one of the highest smartphone penetration rates in the world (~99% per Statista 2024) and over 557,000 registered businesses (UAE Ministry of Economy, 2023) — yet the professional relationship layer is still paper, spreadsheets and overseas SaaS. Blinq, HiHello, Popl and Linq all bill in USD and ship from abroad; none have a UAE warehouse, none ship a native Sales CRM. Lets Connect is the only UAE-focused stack combining premium NFC hardware (AED 249), brand pages and a native pipeline — at a price the UAE SME market can actually afford.

    03 · Solution & Why Better

    One tap. Four products. One platform.

    NFC + brand pages + native CRM + analytics — bundled in a stack no UAE competitor matches.

    One Tap Sharing

    Premium NFC cards tap any phone. Share profile, contact, portfolio, booking. No app for recipients.

    Brand Pages

    Customisable web profiles — bio, services, gallery, blog, testimonials. Update from one dashboard.

    QR Fallback

    For older phones and printed media. Same powerful profile, accessible via camera scan.

    Native Sales CRM

    Built-in Kanban pipeline, deal tracking, tasks. AED 1,799 lifetime — vs AED 18K+/yr for Salesforce.

    Our Moat — 5 things no competitor combines
    • Only platform bundling NFC + Brand Pages + native CRM in one UAE-focused stack.
    • 100% proprietary technology — every line built in-house. Zero third-party dependency.
    • UAE pricing built for the SME — AED 249/card, no per-seat SaaS tax, lifetime CRM unlock at AED 1,799.
    • Local UAE fulfilment from Dubai — 48hr delivery across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the wider Emirates.
    • Franchise & affiliate tools built natively — Blinq, HiHello, Popl and Linq have neither.
    25 Live Platform Capabilities — Inside Every NFC Card Dashboard
    Profile & Brand
    Details
    Social Links
    Multi Profile
    Contact Display
    Templates
    Content & Showcase
    Documents
    Blog
    Products
    Gallery
    Testimonials
    Engagement
    Password Protection
    Visibility & Order
    Bookings
    Get Reviews
    Add to Wallet
    CRM & Leads
    Sales CRM (Kanban)
    Contact Leads
    Enquiries
    Subscribers
    Card Scanner
    Utilities & Data
    Analytics
    Custom Forms
    Data Export
    Location Tracker
    URL Redirector
    04 · Competitive Landscape

    The category is being validated. UAE has no SME-focused leader yet.

    Global NFC + digital business-card players have raised US$68M+ combined. Blinq, HiHello, Popl & Linq all bill in USD; HiHello, Popl & Linq all bill in USD. That is our opening.

    Funding Raised by Direct Competitors (Public Sources)
    Blinq$25M Series A · May 2025 · pivoting enterprise
    $28.5M
    Linq$20M Series A · Dec 2025 (pivoting to AI)
    $27.8M
    HiHello$7.5M Series A · Jul 2021
    $10M
    PoplSeed · 2021
    $2.2M

    Sources: CB Insights, TechCrunch, Newswire, parsers.vc. Figures verified via published funding announcements. No estimates.

    Investor Takeaway

    Top-tier VCs have validated this category with US$68M+ in disclosed funding. None of them price in AED or ship from a UAE warehouse with a native Sales CRM. Lets Connect is the only contender combining premium NFC, brand pages and a native pipeline — UAE-priced, UAE-supported — and we are entering at a fraction of the valuations these competitors raised at.

    Platform Capability Comparison
    Product features only — what users actually get inside the platform.
    CapabilityLets ConnectBlinqHiHelloPoplLinq
    NFC Hardware(via 3rd party)
    Brand Page
    Lead Capture
    Booking (Built-in)(via Calendly)
    Analytics
    CRM SyncBuilt-in (no 3rd party)Salesforce, HubSpotSalesforce, HubSpotSalesforce, HubSpot
    Sales CRM (Native)
    Custom Forms
    Profile Visibility Control
    Source: Public product pages & pricing for each competitor (verified). Lets Connect features are live in production.
    05 · Market Opportunity

    557K+ businesses. ~99% smartphone penetration.

    Every figure below is sourced from a publicly verifiable third party — no estimates, no hallucinated numbers.

    AED 138M+
    UAE Serviceable Card TAM
    557K UAE businesses × AED 249 ASP (bottom-up, MoE 2023)
    557K+
    Registered Businesses
    UAE Ministry of Economy · 2023
    95%
    SMEs Share of Companies
    UAE MoE · SMEs contribute 63.5% of non-oil GDP
    ~99%
    Smartphone Penetration
    Statista 2024 · among the world’s highest
    Sources (verifiable, no estimates)
    • UAE Ministry of EconomySMEs make up 95% of companies, contribute 63.5% of non-oil GDP · 557K+ registered businesses (2023)
    • Dubai SME (Dubai Economy)SMEs account for ~95% of Dubai businesses, ~42% workforce, ~40% of Dubai GDP
    • StatistaUAE smartphone penetration — ~99% (2024), among the highest globally
    • Bottom-up UAE TAM557K UAE businesses × AED 249 ASP = AED 138M+ one-time card TAM · 25k Year-1 target = ~0.018% penetration
    • 6Wresearch (Regional context)Middle East NFC Market · 10.6% CAGR 2025–2031 · UAE one of 7 countries covered (paid report — regional only, not UAE-isolated)
    • 6Wresearch (Regional context)Middle East Digital Business Card Market 2025–2031 · UAE listed as a key country market (paid report — regional only)
    06 · Revenue Model & GTM

    Five revenue streams. Hardware + SaaS + B2B + Channel.

    Premium hardware funds the acquisition. SaaS compounds the margin. Franchise & affiliate scale without capital.

    Stream 01
    Premium NFC Cards

    PVC · Metal · Wooden at AED 249 ASP. Sold via website, Noon, Amazon.ae and UAE experience centres.

    Core B2C · AED 249
    Stream 02
    Corporate & Enterprise

    Branded team cards for UAE corporates — banks, real estate, hospitality, healthcare. Bulk pricing, recurring B2B.

    B2B
    Stream 03
    Platform SaaS

    Pro & Ultra plans · AED 35–AED 75/mo · CRM, analytics, lead capture, bookings. 85%+ gross margin.

    Recurring SaaS
    Stream 04
    Sales CRM (Lifetime)

    One-time AED 1,799. Full Kanban pipeline, deal tracking, activity timeline. High-margin add-on.

    AED 1,799 lifetime
    Stream 05
    Franchise & Affiliate

    UAE franchise partners and affiliate creators scale distribution without adding overhead.

    Asset-light
    UAE GTM Strategy — 6 channels
    High Priority
    Organic Social
    LinkedInInstagramTikTokYouTube Shorts
    Long-term
    SEO & Content
    Google OrganicBlogsProgrammatic SEO
    Immediate
    Marketplaces
    NoonAmazon.aeEtsy
    High Intent
    Paid Ads
    GoogleMetaLinkedInYouTube
    Zero CAC
    Influencers
    CreatorsCoachesIndustry Voices
    Premium
    Dubai Experience Centre
    Smart CentreLive NFC DemosEnterprise Walk-ins
    07 · Traction

    Profitable. Organic. Globally validated — pre-raise.

    Every number below happened before a single dollar of marketing spend.

    £8,633

    Organic revenue · 5 months · pre-marketing (UK base)

    317

    Paying customers across 6 channels

    5.0★

    200+ reviews · Amazon, eBay, website

    50+

    Countries reached with zero ad spend

    “317 customers across 50+ countries — Amazon UK, Amazon US, eBay UK, eBay US, website, offline. This raise is the first time we are putting fuel on a fire that is already burning.”

    08 · The Team · UAE

    A founder-led operator team launching NFC across the UAE.

    Investors back people first. A hands-on founder who built the entire platform, guided by two 30-year core mentors - already shipping, already profitable, already scaling.

    1
    Founder-Led
    108+
    Combined Years of Experience
    100%
    Platform Built In-House
    2
    30+ Yr Core Mentors
    Founders

    The operator core - building product, running operations and owning the engineering stack end-to-end.

    AB
    Arun Babu Veeranki
    Co-Founder & CEO · 10+ Yrs
    ProductTechnologyStrategyDigital Marketing

    Leads product, technology and strategy. 10+ years in digital marketing and web development; designed and built the LetsConnect platform end to end and is the named inventor on the UK patent application.

    SM
    Swathi Mothipally
    Co-Founder, Commercial & Customer Success · Commercial
    SalesPartnershipsMarketplacesCustomer Success

    Leads sales, partnerships, marketplace channels (eBay, Amazon, TikTok Shop) and customer experience.

    BT
    Brahma Teja Challa
    Co-Founder, Operations & Compliance · Operations
    FulfilmentSupply ChainQuality ControlCompliance

    Leads fulfilment, supply chain, quality control and regulatory/compliance, ensuring every card ships on time and to spec.

    Our Core Mentors

    Backed by 60+ years of business-building wisdom.

    Two veteran operators advise the company on scaling, product strategy and multi-market execution — bringing decades of pattern-recognition that money alone cannot buy.

    J
    Jagadish
    Core Mentor · Business Scaling · 30+ Yrs

    Three decades of building, scaling and exiting businesses. Advises on go-to-market, organisational design and global expansion strategy.

    A
    Ayyappa
    Core Mentor · Product & Operations · 30+ Yrs

    30+ years across product, operations and corporate governance. Mentors on unit economics, supply chain and multi-market execution.

    Why this team wins: a founder who already scaled a UK consumer brand to £5M+, a COO running dual-country ops, an 8-year CTO owning the stack, dedicated AI & ecommerce leads, and two 30-year mentors guiding strategy — all operating at an India cost base with UK/US/UAE pricing. That is the moat.

    09 · Financials & Unit Economics

    AED 130 profit per card. 52% margin. AED 25.79M by Year 3.

    Premium UAE pricing. Clean unit economics on both hardware and software. Profitable from Year 1.

    Unit Economics
    NFC Business Card · UAE
    AED 249
    MRP · PVC · Metal · Wooden
    AED 15
    Card
    AED 10
    Package
    AED 50
    Office + Mktg
    AED 44
    Delivery/Platform/Franchise
    Cost
    AED 119
    Profit
    AED 130
    Margin
    52%
    Digital Add-On
    AED 99 Per Customer · 10% Attach
    AED 99 add-on
    CRM · Analytics · Bookings
    10% attach
    Attach Rate Y1
    90%+
    Digital Margin

    2.5K Year-1 digital add-ons at AED 99 each = AED 220K pure-margin layer on top of hardware. Scales linearly with card volume.

    🇦🇪 UAE — 3-Year Revenue Projection
    25K → ~50K → ~100K cards · @ AED 249 ASP · AED 130 gross profit per card.
    MetricYear 1
    25K cards · Dubai + AD + SHJ
    Year 2
    ~50K cards · all 7 Emirates
    Year 3
    ~100K cards · UAE + GCC pilot
    InvestmentAED 5.0MAED 5.0MAED 5.0M
    Card RevenueAED 6.23MAED 12.45MAED 24.90M
    Card Gross ProfitAED 3.25MAED 6.50MAED 13.00M
    Digital Add-On ProfitAED 0.22MAED 0.45MAED 0.89M
    Total RevenueAED 6.47MAED 12.90MAED 25.79M
    Gross Profit (pre-tax)AED 3.47MAED 6.95MAED 13.89M
    Net Profit (post 9% UAE corporate tax)AED 3.16MAED 6.33MAED 12.64M
    Y1 Revenue / Investment
    AED 12.64M
    Y3 Net Profit
    Card Volume Scale Y1 → Y3
    10 · What You Get

    15% equity. Clear path to IPO.

    One fixed offer. No negotiation, no dilution surprise. AED 5.0M into Lets Connect UAE buys you 15% fully-diluted equity, full investor rights, and a defined exit path through FY 2029-30 (DFM / ADX) IPO or secondary.

    The Offer
    15%
    Fully-diluted equity · fixed · non-negotiable
    Your Cheque
    AED 5.0M
    Post-Money Valuation
    AED 33.33M
    Pre-Money Valuation
    AED 28.33M
    Year 3 Revenue Plan
    AED 25.79M
    15% Fully-Diluted Equity
    Locked allocation in Lets Connect UAE entity. Fixed offer — non-negotiable cap to protect founder control through Series A.
    Board Observer / Seat
    Observer seat at 5%+ check size · full board seat at 10%+ · quarterly board meetings, monthly KPI dashboard.
    1× Non-Participating Preference
    Liquidation preference protects principal on any exit below valuation · broad-based weighted-average anti-dilution.
    Pro-Rata + Tag-Along
    Right to participate pro-rata in Series A / B to defend ownership · tag-along on any founder secondary sale.
    Information Rights
    Monthly management accounts · quarterly investor letter · audited annual P&L · full access to data room.
    IPO Path · FY 2029-30 (DFM / ADX)
    Targeted listing window FY 2029-30 (DFM / ADX) once consolidated revenue crosses scale threshold · secondary buyback option available from Series B.
    Year 3 Stake Value · Valuation Scenarios

    Based on planned Year 3 revenue of AED 25.79M and net profit of AED 12.64M, applied to standard SaaS-hardware hybrid revenue multiples. Conservative anchored to slow-growth comparables; upside reflects category leaders.

    Conservative
    revenue multiple
    Company Valuation
    AED 77.4M
    Your 15% Stake Worth
    AED 11.6M
    2.3× cash-on-cash on investment
    Base Case
    revenue multiple
    Company Valuation
    AED 129.0M
    Your 15% Stake Worth
    AED 19.3M
    3.9× cash-on-cash on investment
    Upside
    revenue multiple
    Company Valuation
    AED 206.3M
    Your 15% Stake Worth
    AED 30.9M
    6.2× cash-on-cash on investment

    Illustrative only · not a forecast or guarantee of returns. Stake value crystallises on a liquidity event (Series A/B secondary, strategic acquisition, or IPO). Actual valuation set by future market-clearing investors.

    11 · Fundraise Ask

    Raising AED 5.0M — Year 1 UAE operations.

    Every dirham mapped to team, marketing, operations and inventory (incl. 20% contingency). Profitable in Year 1.

    Seed Round · UAE
    AED 5.0 Million
    Year 1 — UAE Operations (Dubai + AD + SHJ, incl. 20% contingency)
    AED 6.47M
    Y1 Revenue Target
    AED 3.16M
    Y1 Net Profit
    25K
    Cards Year 1
    3 emirates
    Dubai · AD · SHJ
    Use of Funds · Year 1 · AED 5.0M
    👥
    UAE In-Market Team (9 staff incl. Country Manager)
    33.2% of total
    AED 1.67M
    📣
    UAE Marketing Budget (6 channels)
    29.8% of total
    AED 1.5M
    🛡️
    20% Contingency Buffer
    16.7% of total
    AED 838K
    ⚙️
    Office, Equipment, Inventory, Legal, Logistics, Software
    15.9% of total
    AED 800K
    🌏
    India Remote Team (SEO, Dev, Design, Ads, CRM)
    4.4% of total
    AED 220K
    📣 Marketing — Per Channel · AED 1.5M (Y1) · +15% Y2 · +25% Y3
    AED 480K
    Google Ads (32%)
    AED 390K
    Meta Ads (26%)
    AED 300K
    Influencer / UGC (20%)
    AED 180K
    Offline Placements (12%)
    AED 105K
    Expos / Events (7%)
    AED 45K
    SEO + Digital PR (3%)
    👥 Operating Cost Breakdown — Year 1
    AED 1.67M
    UAE In-Market Team — 9 staff (Country Mgr, Ops, Sales, BD×3, Mktg Mgr, CS, Finance)
    AED 220K
    India Remote Team (SEO, Social, Ads, Developer, Automation)
    AED 800K
    Office, Equipment, Inventory & Machines
    AED 838K
    20% Contingency (hiring, fx, overruns)
    11 · Take the Meeting

    Let's build the UAE's next category leader.

    Tell us your ticket size. We'll send the full deck and book a call within 48 hours.

    Founder-led conversations, no junior intermediaries.
    Full data room access for serious investors.
    1:1 product walkthrough — CRM, NFC, dashboard.
    UAE-priced, UAE-supported, Dubai launch team in place.

    Founder-handled within 48 hours. Email arun@letsconnectcard.com