https://www.arabianbusiness.com/ :A new digital platform backed by Standard Chartered, Mashreq and LuLu Financial Holdings has launched in the UAE, promising to help small and medium-sized businesses find customers, connect with suppliers and gain access to financial, technology and logistics services.

Hal was unveiled at Investopia Bridge 2026 in the presence of Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism.

The platform has been created as a joint venture between SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s innovation and venture-building division; NeoVentures, Mashreq’s corporate venture arm; and LuLu Financial Holdings.

Hal will operate as a business-to-business marketplace where SMEs can connect with potential buyers and suppliers. Participating companies will also be introduced to services provided by financial institutions and other commercial partners.

Beehive, Microsoft, Visa and Aramex are among the initial companies joining its ecosystem. Representatives signed memoranda of understanding during the launch event.

Smaller companies
SMEs account for more than 94% of companies operating in the UAE and contribute more than 60% of the country’s non-oil economy.

However, smaller companies can still face difficulties finding reliable customers and suppliers, obtaining finance and adopting the digital tools needed to expand.

Hal, which means “solution” in Arabic, has been developed to bring services addressing those problems into one platform.

Alex Manson, CEO of SC Ventures, said the process of operating and expanding an SME remains fragmented despite the sector’s importance to the economy.

“By bringing together strong partners across the SME journey, we have an opportunity to make it easier for businesses to connect, transact and access the support they need to move forward,” he said.

The platform is initially concentrating on the UAE market, but its founders have longer-term ambitions to support businesses trading across regional and international markets.

Farooq Siddiqi, CEO of Hal, said the company eventually intends to help SMEs manage their cross-border requirements along trade routes that are important to the UAE.

“The problem and the opportunity cannot be solved by one institution alone,” Siddiqi said. He added that Hal wanted to assemble organisations that viewed SMEs as an important market and were prepared to collaborate on new solutions.

Business banking
Mashreq will provide business-banking and investment capabilities to the venture, while LuLu Financial Holdings brings experience operating financial services across multiple regional markets.

Amith Rajan, head of wholesale digital banking at Mashreq and CEO of NeoVentures, said Hal could eventually expand beyond the Emirates.

“We see this as the start of something that can scale across the UAE and, over time, along the region’s wider trade corridors,” he said.

Adeeb Ahamed, managing director of LuLu Financial Holdings, said the ability of SMEs to expand would increasingly depend on how effectively the wider commercial ecosystem worked around them.