Tabby raises $23m in largest ‘Series A’ funding round in the Mideast

• Funding led by led by Arbor Ventures and Mubadala Capital, with participation from STV, Raed Ventures, Global Founders Capital, JIMCO, Global Ventures, Venture Souq, Outliers VC, MSA Capital, HOF and Arab Bank.

Tabby, the leading UAE and Saudi-based buy now pay later (BNPL) provider has raised ‘Series A’ financing of $23 million in debt and equity led by Arbor Ventures and Mubadala Capital, with participation from STV, Raed Ventures, Global Founders Capital, JIMCO, Global Ventures, Venture Souq, Outliers VC, MSA Capital, HOF and Arab Bank.

The funding will fuel the company’s next stage of growth, helping tabby materially scale its product and engineering capabilities in addition to its lending capacity, further benefiting its merchant partners and consumers.

The ‘Series A’ financing builds on an exceptional year for Tabby which saw a rapidly growing roster of large-scale retailers and market momentum driven by evolving consumer demand.

Founded in 2019, Tabby partners with retailers to offer their customers online or in-store the ability to defer paying for their purchases for up to 30 days or to pay in four equal monthly instalments at zero cost to the consumer.

Room for growth

Today, Tabby’s customers are able to use its service across more than 500 integrated merchants, including leading global brands like IKEA, Toys R Us and Ace Hardware and regional retail giants including Al Futtaim Group, Landmark Group and Apparel Group.

According to a report by Kearney Middle East, the average share of GCC households that have bought goods online has reached over eight per cent in 2020. Given the range in developed markets sits at 16 to 25 per cent, there is significant room for growth.

This digital shift is also seen offline, with mobile payments for PoS transactions in Saudi Arabia having grown 495 per cent for the past year until September, according to Saudi Payments.

Furthermore, as banks across the region have tightened their credit policies and consumers increasingly seek ways to manage their finances, tabby has seen tremendous market adoption of its BNPL offering.

Melissa Guzy, Managing Partner at Arbor Ventures commented: “We are very excited to have backed Tabby, the leader in BNPL in MENA which is at a tipping point in digital payments.  

“Buy-now-pay-later solutions are booming globally thanks to accelerated payments digitization and e-commerce penetration, and the Middle East is no exception. Tabby’s solution fits squarely within our thesis that fintech solutions will drive better experiences for merchants and consumers. We are excited to partner with Hosam and his team as they build tabby into a regional fintech leader,” Ibrahim Ajami, Head of Ventures at Mubadala, said.

Hosam Arab, co-Founder and CEO of Tabby, said the shift to online retail has never been more evident, and with it, consumers are becoming ever more demanding as they actively seek convenience and reliability in their shopping experience. And this includes how they pay for their purchases.

“We’re very proud of the value we’ve been able to bring our retail partners by providing their customers with an exceptionally convenient and flexible way to pay,” he said.