Neobanks keep getting bigger around the world. The market is expected to grow from about $102.5 billion in 2025 to roughly $130 billion in 2026, showing that digital-first banking is now standard for many businesses.
In late 2025, Revolut overtook Nubank as the world’s most valuable neobank, which put its valuation at around $75 billion following an employee share sale. It was a clear signal that confidence in the neobank model more alive than ever.
Globally, a growing list of neobanks is competing for business customers. Revolut and Nubank continue to pull ahead as they scale, with Europe seeing steady growth from business-first platforms like Qonto and Finom, which focus on fast onboarding, multi-currency accounts, cards, and expense tools for SMEs. By January 2026, dozens of similar platforms are operating across regions, all offering a cleaner, faster alternative to traditional banking.
The Middle East is no different. Digital banks like Wio have made everyday banking easier for businesses, from opening accounts to managing payments on a phone. But after the money moves, founders still run into the same problems: invoices to chase, transactions to match, and reports to prepare – most of it done by hand.
While banking has become faster and easier, the work that follows has barely changed, and that’s what Dubai-based skrooge.ai focuses on: tax and accounting.
As skrooge.ai co-founder Anatolii Solomanin sees it, the bigger issue for businesses is control. “Founders often don’t know where their numbers stand until it’s too late,” he says. “Accounting shouldn’t be something you check once a month. It should be something you can trust that is under control all the time.”
In the UAE, many businesses operate across free zones, mainland entities, and different regulatory setups at the same time. While the environment is generally business-friendly, accounting and tax can get complicated fast.
skrooge.ai is built with those UAE-based founders and SMEs in mind, especially those using fast, app-based banking through neobanks like Wio, but still needing a clear, reliable way to stay on top of accounting and compliance as they grow.
What skrooge.ai Is Built to Solve
What skrooge.ai is trying to change is not the role of accountants, but how much time, money, and mental energy businesses pour into accounting work. Today, much of accounting work is still made up of repetitive, manual tasks that don’t really benefit from human judgment but still require constant attention.
Collecting invoices, checking whether documents meet tax requirements, matching transactions to bank statements, and allocating expenses correctly for each client all take time, and the volume only grows as a business scales.
skrooge.ai focuses on that “bread and butter” work – the preparation of books, monthly financial reports, and the groundwork behind tax filings. Instead of replacing accountants, the platform is designed to sit alongside them, using AI to handle the heavy lifting while accountants review, validate, and guide the process.
The goal is to give businesses clean, accurate financials without pulling founders into manual work, while ensuring accountants can focus on oversight, accuracy, and decision-making rather than repetitive admin.
Example of How This Plays Out in Practice
A big part of that starts with how information gets into the system in the first place. One of the most time-consuming parts of accounting is simply gathering documents. Invoices arrive by email, receipts sit in messaging apps, and bank statements live in separate portals. Founders are often expected to manually forward everything to their accountant, which leads to delays, missed documents, and constant back-and-forth.
skrooge.ai tries to remove that friction by making document collection as automatic as possible. Clients can connect their email and let the system set up smart filters that capture invoices, receipts, and statements as they arrive. Instead of searching through inboxes or forwarding attachments, documents are automatically routed into the accounting workflow. Files received through messaging apps can be forwarded just as easily, and everything ends up in one place without the client having to think about it.
Anatolii points out that the problem isn’t complexity, but volume. “You can’t expect someone to remember how every client wants things structured once they’re handling dozens of businesses,” he says. “That’s why accounting feels exhausting. Systems remember rules better than people do.”
Rather than relying on folders and static file structures, skrooge.ai presents documents and transactions in table-based views that can be filtered by supplier, amount, date, or category. This makes it easier for accountants to spot issues, review activity, and understand patterns without jumping between systems. The idea is not to add another layer of complexity, but to give accountants a clearer overview of the work in front of them.
Knowing Where Things Stand
For clients, the platform is designed to reduce uncertainty. One of the most common frustrations founders have with accounting is not knowing where things stand. Documents are sent, questions are asked, and weeks can pass with little visibility into progress. skrooge.ai changes that by giving clients a clearer picture of what has been submitted, what is still missing, and what stage the accounting process is in.
Over time, the platform is also being built out as a central place for company information. Beyond transaction documents, this includes trade licenses, certificates of incorporation, and other core records that are required for compliance. Keeping these documents up to date is critical, especially when dealing with tax authorities or audits, and having them scattered across emails and folders only increases risk.
Software Plus People, Not One or the Other
The service itself combines software with a dedicated accounting team, rather than offering a purely self-serve tool. Clients are supported by real accountants who use the platform to manage books, prepare monthly reports, and handle VAT and corporate tax filings. This hybrid approach reflects the belief that while AI can handle much of the repetitive work, human oversight is still essential in regulated financial environments.
Pricing is built around clear monthly packages covering core accounting, bookkeeping, reporting, and tax compliance. Additional work is priced upfront, with add-ons like backlog accounting offered at a 25% discount to the monthly package and payroll-related filings charged per employee.
One-off services are available separately, including corporate tax registration from 399 AED, tax filing from 499 AED, VAT registration from 999 AED, and audit services from 2,999 AED
The Direction Banking and Accounting Are Moving In
Looking ahead, skrooge.ai plans to build more around client communication and real-time visibility. While the platform today is focused on the back-office work of accounting, future updates are expected to make it easier for businesses to see progress, ask questions, and understand their financial position without constant back-and-forth.
As neobanks continue to make payments faster and easier, the next pressure point is everything that follows – understanding the numbers, staying compliant, and keeping books in order as businesses grow. skrooge.ai is built around that reality, focusing on the accounting layer that still hasn’t caught up with how modern businesses operate.
