Businesses in the GCC region have long been at the receiving end of international capital and technical know-how and now a new, cutting-edge startup has raised a large round of funding at a head-turning valuation.
Tabby, the region’s first and only online payments platform, has secured $58M in a round led by PayPal Ventures, the venture capital arm of PayPal. The round values the startup at a whopping $660M, making it one of the highest-valued startups in the region.
Tabby will use the new funds to continue developing its multi-currency payment solution and expand its reach in the region. The startup already serves over 400,000 customers across the GCC, covering both ecommerce and point-of-sale payments.
Tabby is powered by a unique, pay-as-you-go model, making its services more accessible to customers. It also has a market-leading mobile app for tracking payments and engaging with merchants.
The huge investment shows the confidence of the global payments giant in Tabby’s product-market fit and impressive growth in the region.
The Middle East is undergoing an unprecedented digital revolution, with ecommerce and fintech startups proliferating. The investment in Tabby will provide a much-needed boost to the regional startup ecosystem.
The $58M also validates the GCC’s shifting economic dynamics and maturity of the region’s market, setting the stage for more investors to move into the region.
For Tabby, the deal underscores its status as a key player in the region’s payments space. The company was founded in 2018 with a mission to make online payments more accessible, affordable, and secure in the Middle East, and the investment should help it realize that mission.