The archive · Money & Fintech · Strategic decision · 2019-2024
Tabby bet BNPL is essential credit in the Gulf; $1.5B unicorn now moves into banking
Dubai-born, Riyadh-based Tabby turned low Gulf card penetration into a profitable BNPL unicorn, then bought a SAMA-licensed wallet
Tabby
What the business is
Buy-now-pay-later payments at checkout for 40,000+ brands and millions of shoppers across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait
Starting capital：$2M seed in 2019; $950M+ raised in equity and debt through 2023, including a $200M Series D
How it started
After exiting Namshi, Hosam Arab founded Tabby in Dubai in 2019. He saw that only about 15% of Saudis and 40% of Emiratis had credit cards, so BNPL could be the first credit product for most shoppers — and a checkout tool merchants would pay for to replace cash on delivery.
What happened
Tabby scaled through a $2M seed, a $58M Series C led by Sequoia Capital India and STV, and a $200M Series D led by Wellington Management in October 2023 at a $1.5B valuation — the Gulf's first fintech unicorn, with 10M users and 30,000 brands. It moved its headquarters to Riyadh, exited Egypt, and secured a $700M J.P. Morgan securitization ahead of a planned Saudi IPO.
How it ended up
Still scaling and broadening: in September 2024 Tabby agreed to acquire Tweeq, a SAMA-licensed Saudi digital wallet, to move beyond BNPL into spending accounts, cards and money management across the Gulf.
Background
Hosam Arab had already built Namshi, one of the Gulf's first big online fashion retailers, before founding Tabby in Dubai in 2019. His insight: in Saudi Arabia only about 15% of people had credit cards, so buy-now-pay-later could be the first credit product for most shoppers — and merchants would pay for a checkout option that replaced cash on delivery.
Tabby grew from a $2M seed to over $950M in equity and debt, with a $58M Series C from Sequoia Capital India and STV and an October 2023 Series D of $200M led by Wellington Management at a $1.5B valuation — the Gulf's first fintech unicorn. By then it served 10M users and 30,000 brands, was profitable, and had moved its headquarters to Riyadh ahead of a planned Saudi IPO, after exiting Egypt where the economics didn't hold.
In September 2024 Tabby agreed to acquire Tweeq, a SAMA-licensed Saudi digital wallet, to expand beyond BNPL into spending accounts, cards and money management. The acquisition turned Tabby into a broader financial services platform, backed by a $700M J.P. Morgan securitization facility.
What has to be true
- Low credit card penetration made BNPL essential credit in the Gulf, not a convenience layered on top of existing credit
- The founder's Namshi experience meant deep knowledge of Gulf retail and merchant needs from day one
- Early regulatory clarity, including SAMA's BNPL permits, let Tabby operate legitimately and scale
- Treating BNPL as critical infrastructure produced profitability that Western BNPL models did not
- Moving headquarters to Riyadh aligned Tabby with its largest market and the Saudi IPO track
What can be applied
A product's economics depend on market structure: BNPL is a loss leader where credit is abundant, essential infrastructure where it is scarce. Enter only where structure makes the model profitable.
Aftermath
As of September 2024 Tabby serves over 14 million users and 40,000 global brands across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait, with Saudi Arabia its largest market. The Tweeq acquisition — pending regulatory approval — extends it into SAMA-regulated digital wallets, and the J.P. Morgan securitization plus a closed Series D leave it capitalized ahead of a possible Tadawul IPO.
Sources
- Buy now, pay later platform Tabby nabs $200M in Series D funding at $1.5B valuation
- Welcoming Tweeq to the Tabby Team
- Tabby announces pre-IPO $700 million debt facility from J.P. Morgan
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