The CEO of Sobe built a fintech platform for MENA freelancers blocked from receiving international payments. He uses stablecoins and blockchain to let them collect money from global platforms, convert it to USDC, and spend via debit card or local bank transfer.
Chapters
A year ago, it was almost impossible for me to step on a stage and then present in front of so many people. But I think the past year I've been practicing quite a bit and way more comfortable I am today than back then. I'm the co-founder and CEO at Sobe, and we're building a future where location no longer limits potential. So I'm from the Mina region and grew up here in Riyadh. I've been a freelancer and worked with many. Recently, while setting up my company in Saudi, I needed to pay for a service. The provider sent me an invoice with his local banking details, but due to incompatible and outdated payment rails, it was impossible for me to transfer money from my Canadian bank account or even my Wise wallet. This isn't just my problem. Millions of freelancers across the MENA region still struggle with global payment collection. And despite a rise in cross-border work, this issue has yet to be resolved in the MENA region. And Sorbet is here to change that since it's a better rail using stablecoin and blockchain to on-ramp from like clients in the US and in Europe and to off-ramp in kind of the local banks, right? And we're really targeting freelancers and we enable them through virtual wallets to collect payments from top payroll platforms, marketplaces, but also through traditional payment rails. We convert that fiat into USDC in the freelancer's Sorbet wallet. They can then spend it through a Sorbet debit card, send it to any global bank, and manage their business through their suite of—
I feel like once you get the freelancer, you can keep selling them more things. So do you have any ideas for what else you would sell them?
