tabby raises $50 million in series B, aims to accelerate growth

By Leandra Monteiro

tabby, one of the leading buy now, pay later (BNPL) providers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, has raised $50 million in a new equity round which values the company at $300 million. This comes one month after tabby raised $50 million in debt financing bringing tabby’s total funding to over $130 million in less than two years.

The funding round is led by Global Founders Capital and STV with participation from Delivery Hero, CCVA and existing investors. The FinTech firm’s Series B financing will be used to expand tabby’s product portfolio and enter a number of new markets.

Hosam Arab, CEO and Co-founder of tabby said, “With global players consolidating the MENA BNPL space, we at tabby are proud to continue building a local business and work with investors who understand its value. This investment will enable us to deliver the most rewarding and relevant shopping experience for regional consumers and retailers.”

tabby integrates with retailers to allow their customers to shop at their online and physical stores with interest-free instalments. According to the company, its app has more than 400,000 active shoppers, with 3,000 daily downloads making it one of the highest ranked shopping apps in the markets in which it operates. The company recently launched its own cashback loyalty program which rewards users who shop using the tabby app with cash that can be used to pay off their outstanding instalments or deposited into their personal bank accounts.

This investment marks Delivery Hero’s first FinTech investment in MENA. Delivery Hero, which owns and operates a number of regional food and grocery delivery companies including Talabat, InstaShop and Hunger Station, has one of the largest customer bases in the MENA region.

Mark Venema, Senior Vice President, Strategy of Delivery Hero said, “At Delivery Hero, we believe in the power of entrepreneurship. We are excited to be investing in tabby as our first FinTech investment in MENA, a strategically important region for Delivery Hero. We see great potential in tabby to drive the industry forward and are proud to be supporting the company on its growth journey.”

The funding will help tabby further service the growing demand for its BNPL products as customer usage continues to soar, especially in Saudi Arabia, tabby’s largest market.

Ahmad Alshammari, Partner at STV said, “As the global BNPL market is expected to grow at ~30% CAGR over the next five years, we estimate that MENA will grow at least twice as fast, further accelerated by a rapid switch to contactless payments, e-commerce growth, and access to credit. Our doubling-down shows our strong belief that tabby is the market leader in MENA and that they will continue to drive BNPL’s growth across the region by enabling buyers and merchants alike.”

Existing investors Arbor Ventures, Mubadala Investment Capital, Raed Ventures, Global Ventures, MSA Capital, VentureSouq, Outliers VC, JIMCO, and HOF all participated in the Series B financing.