Paymob raises $35m pre-Series C for MENA expansion

By Divya Shah

Egypt-based Paymob has secured $35 million in a pre-Series C funding round co-led by Mubadala Investment Company and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), as the FinTech looks to expand its payments platform across the MENA region. 

The round also attracted participation from existing investors, including British International Investment, Global Ventures and DPI Ventures. The fresh capital will be used to scale Paymob’s digital payments acceptance business and support the development of new products targeting SME merchants and emerging agentic commerce use cases. 

The fundraising follows a period of strong growth for the company. Over the past 18 months, Paymob’s consolidated revenues across its four operating markets have tripled, while revenue from the GCC region has increased sevenfold and now contributes nearly half of the company’s total revenue. 

Islam Shawky, co-founder and CEO of Paymob, said, “Paymob morphed into a regional platform over the past 18 months, propelled by the exponential growth of our GCC business.” 

He added, “This Pre-Series C funding round will help us accelerate our growth plan across the MENA region and fast-track our product roadmap to become the go-to payments platform for agentic commerce.” 

Paymob has also expanded its presence in the Gulf, onboarding approximately 20,000 merchants across its three GCC markets since receiving a Retail Payment Services Licence from the Central Bank of the UAE in January 2025. 

Ali Eid Al Mheiri, Executive Director, UAE Diversified Assets, UAE Investments Platform at Mubadala, said Paymob’s expansion in the UAE aligns with the objectives of the MENA Venture Capital Fund to support companies that strengthen the country’s digital economy and reinforce its position as a regional FinTech hub. 

He noted that Paymob’s scalable payments platform and growth prospects across the GCC position the company to support merchants, promote financial inclusion and contribute to economic diversification across the region. 

The investment highlights growing investor confidence in payment infrastructure providers as digital commerce adoption accelerates across MENA, creating new opportunities for FinTech firms focused on enabling seamless payment acceptance for businesses of all sizes.