Tabby Raises US$233 Million at a US$6.5 Billion Valuation
Blue Pool Capital led the US$233 million round, which Tabby will use to move past buy now, pay later into lending, accounts and transfers.
Nadia Mansour Nadia Mansour covers fintech across the UAE and MENA for Anecdoted -- digital banking, payments licences and the startups building around them. nadia@anecdoted.com
Tabby has raised US$233 million in a round that values the Saudi Arabia and UAE-based fintech at US$6.5 billion. The money is meant to carry the company past buy now, pay later and into a wider set of financial services.
Blue Pool Capital led the round. HSG, Wellington Management and Arbor Ventures, all existing investors, took part alongside it. Tabby says it processes more than US$18 billion in annualised transaction volume.
Buy now, pay later, the model Tabby built its business on, lets shoppers split a purchase into instalments at the point of sale. The licences it now holds allow something different: larger loans, longer repayment periods, and credit extended to small businesses rather than to shoppers at a checkout.
Employee liquidity alongside the raise
Share tenders for staff have been part of Tabby's story since 2023, and through them employees have sold more than US$100 million in stock. The new round folds in a further liquidity option for employees, giving them another chance to convert equity into cash.
Saudi licences and the Tweeq acquisition
The Saudi Central Bank has granted Tabby consumer and SME finance licences. Those permissions let the company write bigger, longer-term financing for consumers and supply working capital to businesses — a step beyond the short-dated credit that defined its original product.
Tabby also bought Tweeq, a digital wallet that holds a SAMA licence. The acquisition brought accounts, cards and transfers into its offering.
A UAE licence and Tabby Cash
In the UAE, the Central Bank issued a Stored Value Facilities licence. Tabby used it to launch Tabby Cash, which it pitches as an alternative to a debit account. The product charges no account or card fees, returns cashback on card spending, and handles both local and international transfers.
Taken together, the licences and the wallet deal move Tabby closer to the territory of everyday banking: holding balances, issuing cards, moving money, lending over longer terms. Buy now, pay later remains the entry point. The other products now sit around it.
What the executives said
"Everything since, every product and every licence, has come back to the same idea: people deserve more from their money. This round means we can build further on that, without changing how we think about growth or discipline," said Hosam Arab, CEO and co-founder of Tabby.
"We are proud of our partnership with Tabby over the past three years, and we are excited to continue supporting the impressive growth of the company with this financing," said Christopher Wu, Chief Investment Officer at Blue Pool Capital.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, including from the Saudi Central Bank.
