UAE-based tabby raises $104M Series B
UAE-based Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) provider tabby continues its expansion efforts and eyes new markets as it raises $54M in an extension round to its $50M Series B round closed in August.
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UAE-based FinTech and BNPL provider tabby has successfully raised $54M in an extension round to its initial $50M Series B closed in August of last year. The round was by Sequoia Capital India and STV, with additional participation from existing investors Arbor Ventures, Mubadala Investment Capital, and Global Founders Capital (GFC). This round, along with $150M in debt and equity financing secured in 2021, brings tabby’s total fundraising to date over $180M.
Founded in the UAE and servicing the GCC, tabby empowers shoppers with the financial freedom to access the products they want and need, while allowing them to maintain financial health and control. While BNPL is still in its relative infancy in the GCC, the sector has witnessed one of the fastest rates of consumer adoption globally with 24% of consumers in the region reporting having used the option in 2021.
As most recently recorded in our FinTech 2022 Venture Investment Report the FinTech sector was the most prominent industry in 2021 accounting for more than 20% of all deals and 30% of all capital deployed across Emerging Venture Markets. In Africa, all 6 of last year’s MEGA Deals were closed by FinTech startups including Wave Mobile Money, JUMO, and Flutterwave. Pakistan also showed remarkable growth in the sector, not only did VC investment grow by more than 2,500% YoY to near the $100M mark, but the sector also recorded its highest funding round to date closed by alternative payment platform TAG. Over in MENA, while the UAE reigned as the leading FinTech hub both in number of deals and VC investment deployed in the sector, Saudi Arabia and Egypt made great strides in the past year to catch up. Driving the almost 200% YoY growth in funding backing the sector in 2021, MENA’s top 3 geographies accounted for more than 80% of all capital deployed in the sector. The region’s top 5 funding rounds closed by Tabby, BitOasis, Rasan Information Technology, Expensya, and Dopay- accounting for north of 40% of capital deployed in the sector, attracted investments from global players like MSA Capital (China), Delivery Hero (Germany), Jump Capital (US), and Force Over Mass (UK). With tabby's latest funding round, the FinTech sector in the UAE would have crossed the $100M mark in capital investment raised over the first two months of the year, signaling a strong launch for the sector in 2022 YTD.
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This fundraising clearly illustrates the growth prospects for the payment method in the region. Since its inception, tabby has aggregated over 1,100,000 active shoppers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, collaborating with over 3,000 brands and driving over 3 million clicks to its partners every month. Moreover, tabby reports that online retailers using its payment solution have witnessed a more than 10 percentage point decline in the usage of cash on delivery (COD) by their customers. Hosam Arab, CEO and Co-Founder of tabby highlighted, “The rapid adoption we continue to see today shows the urgency of consumer demand for flexible and honest payment experiences over predatory interest-driven credit. We are delighted to have Sequoia Capital India support our mission towards creating financial freedom as we embark on a key growth chapter in our journey.”
Ranked among the top 10 shopping apps in Saudi Arabia and the top 20 in the UAE, tabby has partnered with seven of the 10 largest retail groups in the GCC, more than any other regional BNPL player. Ahmad Alshammari, Partner, STV, said: “We are proud to have partnered with Hosam and Daniil in their Series-A, and more proud to have deepened our partnership with tabby in all funding rounds since. We are strong believers that the company will continue spearheading BNPL's growth across the region, fueled by the rapid switch to digital payments, e-commerce growth, and remarkable product vision and team, cementing its position as the market leader for BNPL in MENA.”
In conversation with TechCrunch, Co-Founder/CEO Hosam Arab expressed that tabby is eye Egypt as a viable market expansion move, where this investment will support tabby’s international expansion and further development of its consumer product offering. GV Ravishankar, Manager Director, Sequoia India, concluded, “Consumer-centric digital financial services provided real-time and without friction can unlock the growth of commerce and benefit the ecosystem as a whole and we continue to remain bullish on businesses that can do so at scale. Hosam, Daniil, and the team at tabby have built a strong, customer-first, and market-leading BNPL business in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and we’re excited to join their journey as they continue to build a consumer-focused financial services business across the region.”
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