The Idea:

Every founder is questioned, “How did you first come up with the idea, and why did you start this?” The reality is, not every idea succeeds in becoming an Uber, or an Amazon. Khalid Alshakrani, embarked on his entrepreneurial journey in 2007 when he established the asset management firm “Instrata Capital,” which he exited in 2014. The concept for Ryalize first came to him when he decided to venture into the food and beverage business.

Every morning, Khalid would find a queue of employees at his office asking for a salary advance. Medical emergencies back home, school fees, flat tire, were some of the employees’ recurring reasons. Khalid’s attention was diverted from business development to attending to and helping support employees during their time of need. For Khalid as a business owner, as well as his employees, this was a big source of frustration.

During his research, Khalid realized that globally, many employers struggle with the same issues. As a result, employees who experience financial emergencies and have no access to immediate funding during the month find it difficult to make ends meet prior to payday.

The Launch:

Fast forward to 2019, Khalid realized there was a massive opportunity and thus the Ryalize concept came to life in Singapore. In a nutshell, Ryalize is a FinTech platform which partners with Financial Institutions to provide cost-effective and seamless micro-products to serve the needs of their corporate clients.  

‘Earned Wage Access’ is one of the platform’s core products, which aims to support corporates who frequently receive requests from their employees for financial assistance. Ryalize was not only an attractive business opportunity but a way to do social good.

This is when Khalid found his calling. He made it his mission to give back to his people and community and to prevent employee exploitation in times of financial hardship, such as when they need emergency cash. The traditional payroll method isn’t sufficient for individual needs as so Ryalize envisions a future where salaries are streamed just like Netflix.

At Ryalize, we anticipate what people need before they do.

Today:

Today, Ryalize is growing and making a greater impact than what Khalid could have imagined. The team consists of like-minded, tech-savvy individuals with offices in three different countries, Singapore, Bahrain, and Jordan, and there are plans to expand to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other jurisdictions. By breaking the standard pay cycle, our objective is to have a significant influence on communities worldwide. This is just the start for Ryalize.