Sovra raises $2M pre-seed to expand its self-custodial dollar account platform
What's the deal? Sovra, a US-headquartered fintech founded by Lebanese entrepreneur Ahmad Wehbi in 2025, has raised more than $2M in a pre-seed round led by New York-based Pharsalus CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Angel investors include Karim Atiyeh (Ramp founder), Hisham Al-Falih (Lean TechnologiesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → founder), and Hany Rashwan (21Shares founder).
The startup is building a self-custodial dollar account platform that lets users hold digital dollars denominated in USDC, earn yield, transfer money internationally, and make payments via cards accepted on Visa and Mastercard networks. The key difference: users maintain direct control over their funds without relying on intermediaries.
Sovra plans to use the funding to expand its engineering and product teams as it prepares for a public launch. The company currently operates a waitlist and runs a distributed team across the Middle East and Europe.
Why now? Wehbi traced the idea to Lebanon's 2019 financial crisis, when citizens were locked out of their savings overnight. That experience shaped Sovra's core thesis: people need to own their money, not just access it through institutions that can freeze accounts at will.
The timing also reflects a broader moment for stablecoins. USDC and other dollar-backed tokens are gaining traction as practical financial tools, not just crypto speculation vehicles. In the Middle East and North Africa, nearly two-thirds of adults remain unbanked or underbanked, according to Sovra, while cross-border remittance fees often exceed 6% and transfers take days to settle.
"Most fintechs widen access but keep the same old arrangement, where an institution holds your money, and you hope it stays available," Wehbi said. "With Sovra, only you can access your money. We remove that dependency entirely."
What could go wrong? Self-custodial models put the burden of security on users — lose your keys, lose your money. Convincing mainstream consumers to accept that tradeoff remains a significant hurdle. Regulatory uncertainty around stablecoins in multiple jurisdictions adds another layer of risk, particularly as Sovra targets markets with complex and evolving financial regulations.
Competition is also fierce. Established fintechs and crypto wallets are moving into the same space, and Sovra will need to differentiate beyond its self-custody pitch to win users who may not yet understand — or care about — the distinction.
The signal: Sovra sits at the intersection of two powerful trends: stablecoin adoption as everyday financial infrastructure and the push to serve the world's unbanked populations without replicating the intermediary model that failed them. The investor lineup — founders of Ramp, Lean Technologies, and 21Shares — suggests conviction that self-custodial fintech can scale beyond crypto-native audiences.
If Sovra delivers on its promise, it could offer a template for how dollar-denominated financial services reach people traditional banks and even first-generation fintechs have ignored.
Read more: en.incarabia.com
