Tamara raises $100m in Series B equity round

By Leandra Monteiro

Saudi FinTech start-up Tamara, a payments start-up focused on driving financial inclusion across the Middle East, has raised a $100 million Series B equity round led by Sanabil Investments, with participation from Coatue, Shorooq Partners, Endeavor Catalyst and a follow-on investment by global FinTech Checkout.com.

The company which has seen exceptional adoption with more than 3 million customers, a 10x year-on-year revenue growth and over 4,000 partner merchants including leading global and regional brands like IKEA, SHEIN, Adidas, Namshi and Jarir plus local SMEs – will use the funding to expand its product offering across payments and shopping in addition to launching in new markets.

Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Tamara’s Co-founder and CEO said, “Our mission is to deliver an exceptional experience to our customers by offering transparent, seamless and inclusive payment solutions. Tamara has established itself as the trusted, reliable and sustainable local partner for any regional or global business looking to expand in Saudi Arabia and MENA.”

Abdulmajeed added, “We act as a marketing and discovery channel for our partner merchants to drive new customers and incremental sales online and in-store. After working with Tamara, our partners have seen on average 40% higher average order value, 20% lower cash on delivery, 15% higher conversion and significantly lower order return rates.”

Commenting on the announcement, Sanabil Investments said, “Tamara’s exceptional growth while maintaining healthy unit economics speaks volumes about what the team has achieved so far. We at Sanabil back industry disruptors and transformers, and in Tamara we found a team that has the qualities to transform huge industries such as financial services and shopping in the region and beyond.”

Five months after launching, Tamara closed a $6 million seed funding round in January 2021 followed by a $110 million Series A led by Checkout.com in April 2021 – the largest-ever recorded in the Middle East and North Africa region, making the total funding so far $216 million in equity and debt. Tamara has attracted over 3 million customers and more than 4,000 partner merchants including leading global and regional brands like IKEA, SHEIN, Adidas, Namshi and Jarir plus local SMEs.