One in a Billion | TWIF MENA

Paymob, Egypt-based payments infrastructure company, closed a $35 million pre-series C round co-led by Mubadala and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

TalMal, Saudi-based fintech, secured a pre-seed funding round from MM Partners

OCTA, a UAE-based accounting platform, raised $3.5 million in seed funding led by MEVP

Lendo received a $200 million commitment from Quantic Financial Solutions GmbH for an institutional capital program focused on SME working capital financing in Saudi Arabia

Saudi’s Rize received a $50 million asset-backed Murabaha facility from Jadwa Investment

Bahrain’s Tanami, a private markets investment platform, raised a funding round from tali ventures, Qatar Development Bank and 1818 Ventures

barq, Saudi-based digital payments startup, closed a $329.5 million Series A funding round at a $1.85 billion valuation

Huspy, UAE-based real estate fintech, acquired LuxuryX, a luxury real estate brokerage, and Integra Finance, an Italian credit brokerage firm

tabby, Saudi-based BNPL, closed a $233 million Series F round at a $6.5 billion valuation, led by Blue Pool Capital

Synapse Analytics, a UAE-based enterprise AI startup, raised $13 million in Series A funding led by Partech

Tarabut, a UAE-HQ financial infrastructure platform, raised $50 million in strategic financing from Riyad Bank, SAB Invest’s X-tech fund, GIB Saudi Arabia, Zamil Group, Kanoo Ventures among other institutional investors.

Local and Orbii partnered to bring AI-powered SME financing to restaurant merchants across the Gulf

NEOPAY and Deem Finance partnered to expand the UAE’s SMEs’ access to working capital

Telr and MoneyHash partnered, allowing merchants to use Telr’s acquiring and local payment capabilities through the MoneyHash network

Saudi’s Public Investment Fund introduced Tawrid Co. for Financing Solutions: a digital platform connecting buyers, suppliers and funders for supply chain financing

baraka introduced UAE stocks trading, including companies listed on the Dubai Financial Market and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange

Qatar National Bank Syria partnered with Mastercard to introduce Syria’s first locally issued international payment card in more than 15 years

Network International launched an in-store pilot in the UAE for payments using an AED-backed stablecoin.

PhonePe received in-principle approval for a Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes license, and a Stored Value Facilities license from the UAE’s Central Bank

Geidea received eMSP NPG from Saudi’s Central Bank to process e-commerce payments through the national gateway, and MPoC accreditation for its Soft POS payment solution

Foloosi is granted in-principle approval for a Category III payments license from the UAE Central Bank

Paysend received in-principle approval for a Stored Value Facility and Category 4 Digital Exchange Business license from the UAE’s Central Bank

Saudi’s Central Bank certified Visa’s Acceptance Platform for its new e-commerce payments interface

Saudi’s Capital Markets Authority limited local money market funds’ foreign investments at 5% of net asset value, within a 2-year transition period

Moyasar received in-principle approval for a Retail Payment Services Category II license and a Stored Value Facilities license from the UAE’s Central Bank

Saudi and Qatar’s Central Banks allowed cross-border card acceptance with their respective national payments card schemes (mada and HIMYAN)

Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority announced new reporting guidelines for consumer finance and MSME financing companies, as well as mandated OTP verification.

Sweden’s EQT opened its first Middle East office at Abu Dhabi Global Market

The UAE Central Bank granted the National Bank of Egypt preliminary approval to acquire Banque Misr’s UAE branches

Afrexim Bank shared plans to connect its Pan-African Payment and Settlement System to Egypt’s InstaPay

Fasset shared plans to list DDSC, the UAE’s dirham-backed stablecoin, pending approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority

Egypt’s EFG Holding secured a $40 million 4-year unsecured loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Saudi’s Central Bank terminated its formal participation in China’s mBridge

Saudi’s SME General Authority signed a cooperation agreement with STC Bank to expand SME access to Sharia-compliant digital financing

Egyptian Exchange’s Listing Committee approved the temporary listing of 1.6 billion MNT-Halan shares

Saudi’s Fina launched the Fina Fund: a licensed direct financing fund managed by Joa Capital, targeting $133 million to provide corporate finance solutions across procurement, supplier payments and receivables for Saudi’s B2B ecosystem.