The problem
Gulf retail ran heavily on cash and debit: shoppers had few flexible ways to spread a purchase, and merchants watched affordability friction kill conversions at checkout — with no lender willing to underwrite thin-file consumers at the point of sale.
How it works
The customer chooses Tabby at an online or in-store checkout and splits the purchase into instalments; Tabby settles the merchant upfront and collects from the customer over time. On top of that checkout wedge it now stacks licensed products: longer-term consumer credit, SME finance, and a digital wallet for everyday money management across Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Pain points
Cash-heavy habits, limited consumer-credit histories to underwrite against, and merchants unwilling to carry credit risk themselves — Tabby absorbs the underwriting and collections pain on both sides.
Business model
Primarily merchant fees per transaction, increasingly blended with lending margins from consumer and SME credit plus wallet-adjacent revenue. The company says it has been profitable since 2023 on more than $18 billion in annualised volume.
Challenges
Longer-term lending is a different risk animal than interest-free BNPL and needs banking-grade underwriting; the Series F itself remains subject to Saudi Central Bank approval; and Tamara plus bank- and telecom-led wallets fight for the same checkout button.
Funding
- Raised: $233M Series F equity (Sep 2026), led by Blue Pool Capital with HSG, Wellington Management, Arbor Ventures.
- Previously: $160M Series E at $3.3B (Feb 2025); $100M+ in employee tender offers facilitated since 2023 (FWDstart).
- Valuation: $6.5B (Sep 2026).
Latest — September 2026
On 14 September 2026 Tabby announced the $233M round at a $6.5B valuation — nearly double its February 2025 Series E — to fund expansion beyond BNPL into broader financial services in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, backed by new SAMA consumer/SME finance licences and a UAE wallet licence.