“We Got Funded!” Saudi Arabia-Based Tamara Becomes The Kingdom’s First Homegrown Fintech Unicorn

Tamara, a KSA-based buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) fintech startup, has secured US$340 million in a Series C equity funding round led by two Saudi-based entities: SNB Capital, a regional financial institution, and Sanabil Investments, a sovereign wealth fund wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF).

The round also saw the participation of of Shorooq Partners, a UAE-headquartered MENAP-focused tech investor; Pinnacle Capital, a KSA-based premier investment firm, and Impulse, a Kuwait-based venture capital company. Some of Tamara’s existing investors that also took part in this round are Coatue, a US-headquartered global investment firm, Endeavor Catalyst, a US-headquartered VC firm that focuses on emerging markets, and Checkout.com,a UK-headquartered global digital payments platform.

With the completion of this Series C round, Tamara’s business valuation has reached $1 billion, making it the first homegrown fintech unicorn to come out of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi Arabia deserves its place on the world stage for financial technology,” Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, co-founder and CEO of Tamara, said. “Just as Tamara was created by local entrepreneurs, nurtured by a supportive local ecosystem and market regulators, we stand here today, humbled and hungry, ready for our own leapfrog moment. This achievement is a testament to the ecosystem, to our incredible team, investors, and the collaborative spirit that makes this region a great place for talent to flourish.”

The mentioned Series C funding is also among the largest investments in a fintech company in the region, following debt financing led by Goldman Sachs and Shorooq Partners last month – a move that was aimed at upsizing Tamara’s warehouse facility to up to $400 million.

Founded in 2020 by Alsukhan alongwith Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Al Babtain, Tamara today operates in KSA, UAE, and Kuwait and has more than 10 million users. The fintech platform also has over 30,000 partner merchants, and has generated six times annual run rate revenue growth in less than two years.

“As we set our sights on becoming the next big giant in shopping, payments and banking we remain ever grateful for the significant opportunity in this underpenetrated and underserved banking and financial services landscape,” Alsukhan added. “Furthermore, The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has been instrumental in creating an enabling environment for Saudi companies like Tamara to grow and innovate in the Saudi fintech sector.”

Since its inception, Tamara’s partners have included regional and global brands such as SHEIN, IKEA, Jarir, Noon, eXtra and Farfetch, as well as local small and medium businesses. Currently, over one-third of Tamara’s users start their shopping journey from the app itself, which has led to a significantly higher return on advertising spend for Tamara’s partner merchants. Recently, Tamara has also taken the decision to remove late payment fees, highlighting its dedication to offering financial solutions that align with Shariah principles, customer centricity and transparency. The company’s offerings have thus made it a commerce enabler to its partners through the surge in high intent shoppers resulting from co-marketing and a flexible, seamless payment journey.

Source: Tamara

Such a model appears to have been a major contributor in the fintech’s ability to consistently raise funds. “Leading on the Series C raise for Tamara through SNB Capital’s Close-Ended Fintech Fund aligns with one of our objectives to invest in single target companies achieving long-term capital appreciation,” a spokesperson from SNB Capital stated. “Fintech is one of the core investment sectors in SNB Capital’s strategic portfolio and is aligned with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 objective of supporting fintech entrepreneurs at every stage of their development. As a Saudi unicorn Tamara requires significant funding options which SNB Capital is ideally positioned to deliver, and backing the development of the fintech infrastructure which will support further growth.”

On a similar note, a spokesperson from Sanabil Investments added, “Our continued backing and investment in Tamara underscores our unwavering confidence in Tamara’s remarkable growth trajectory. At Sanabil, one of our missions is to empower visionary ideas, turning them into impactful realities. We constantly seek innovations that address pressing market demands while ensuring scalability and sustainability. In Tamara, we have discovered a team with the potential to revolutionize financial services, not only within Saudi Arabia but on a regional scale.”

Tamara’s milestone unicorn status comes at a time when BNPL is rapidly growing in Saudi Arabia. As per the SAMA Fintech 2022 report, the number of customers registered with a BNPL service went from 76,000 in 2020, to three million in 2021, and reached 10 million in 2022. The same report notes that with nearly 30% of the Saudi population using BNPL, the industry is being driven by a number of factors, including the increasing popularity of e-commerce.

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