Wallets/hala
Hala
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Overview
Hala is Saudi Arabia's leading SME (small and medium enterprise) fintech, founded 2019 [1, 2, sa-cro]. September 2025 — Hala secures $157 million Series B led by TPG (Rise Climate fund) + Sanabil (Saudi PIF wholly-owned investment company) — among MENA's largest 2025 fintech rounds. Hala serves 140,000+ Saudi + UAE SMEs processing $8+ billion in annual transactions — distinctive SME-focused fintech vs consumer-wallet rivals.
Hala provides comprehensive SME financial infrastructure: business banking + POS terminals + card issuance + invoicing + accounting + credit + insurance — Saudi Arabia's "Stripe-meets-Brex-for-MENA-SMEs."
History
2019 — Hala founded in Saudi Arabia [2].
2020-2024 — Mass SME adoption + UAE expansion [2].
September 2025 — $157 million Series B [3]: Led by TPG (Rise Climate fund) + Sanabil (Saudi PIF wholly-owned investment company); among MENA's largest 2025 fintech rounds.
2025 — 140,000+ SMEs + $8B+ annual transactions baseline [3].
Ownership & operator
Operating entity: Hala.
Headquarters: Saudi Arabia (Riyadh).
Major investors (Series B Sep 2025): TPG (via Rise Climate fund) + Sanabil (Saudi PIF wholly-owned investment company).
Sanabil context: Sanabil is the Saudi Public Investment Fund's $3B annual private-markets investment program — Hala backing signals Saudi strategic priority.
Regulator: SAMA (Saudi Central Bank).
Technical integration
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Channels | Hala mobile app (iOS + Android) + Hala POS terminals + Hala cards |
| Identifiers | Phone + card number + IBAN |
| Saudi rails | mada (Saudi national debit) + sarie (Saudi instant payments) |
| SME products | Business banking accounts + POS terminals + corporate cards + invoicing + accounting + SME credit + insurance |
| License | SAMA-licensed bank-grade SME fintech |
Users & growth
September 2025 [3]:
- SMEs: 140,000+ (Saudi + UAE)
- Annual transactions: $8+ billion
- Series B: $157 million (TPG + Sanabil)
Use cases
SME business banking; POS terminal payments; corporate card issuance; invoicing + accounting; SME credit + lending; SME insurance; Saudi cross-border payments to UAE.
Implementations & partners
Operator: Hala (independent Saudi SME fintech).
Major investors: TPG (Rise Climate fund) + Sanabil (Saudi PIF).
Regulator: SAMA.
Major Saudi SME-fintech competitors: Tabby (BNPL) + Tamara (BNPL) (consumer-focused; not SME-overlapping); Foodics (Saudi restaurant POS); Geidea (Saudi POS); Lean Technologies (Saudi open banking); traditional Saudi banks SME divisions (Al Rajhi, SNB, Riyad Bank).
Major adjacent MENA SME-fintech: UAE Mamo, Tabby Business, Wio Bank (UAE SME).
Fun facts
- 2019 founding — Saudi SME-focused fintech.
- September 2025 $157M Series B — among MENA's largest 2025 fintech rounds; TPG + Sanabil (Saudi PIF wholly-owned) participation.
- 140,000+ Saudi + UAE SMEs + $8B+ annual transactions — distinctive SME-focused scale.
- Sanabil (Saudi PIF) backing signals Saudi strategic priority for SME-fintech.
- Saudi Arabia's "Stripe-meets-Brex-for-MENA-SMEs" — comprehensive SME financial infrastructure (banking + POS + cards + invoicing + accounting + credit + insurance).
- SAMA-licensed bank-grade SME fintech.
Comparison
| Feature | Hala | [[tabby]] | [[tamara]] | stc-pay | Foodics (SA SME restaurant POS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Hala (Saudi independent SME fintech) | Tabby (UAE BNPL) | Tamara (Saudi BNPL) | STC Bank (STC subsidiary) | Foodics |
| Type | Saudi SME comprehensive financial infrastructure | BNPL | BNPL | Saudi telco-bank wallet | SME restaurant POS |
| SMEs/users | 140K SMEs + $8B annual | 15M+ users + 30K+ merchants | 20M+ users + 87K+ merchants | 12M+ consumers | Major restaurant chains |
| Customer focus | SME (business) | Consumer | Consumer | Consumer | SME restaurant vertical |
| Distinctive | TPG + Sanabil $157M Series B Sep 2025; Saudi Stripe-for-SMEs | MENA BNPL unicorn | Saudi BNPL unicorn + Goldman $2.4B facility | Saudi telco-bank consolidation | Restaurant POS dominance |
Status
Active, Saudi Arabia's leading SME fintech [3]:
- Hala independent Saudi fintech since 2019.
- 140K+ SMEs + $8B+ annual transactions.
- September 2025 $157M Series B (TPG + Sanabil).
- SAMA-licensed bank-grade SME fintech.
Sources
- 1 Hala — official
- 2 Hala (Halalah) — Crunchbase
- 3 Hala $157M Series B — Reuters
- 4 Hala $157M Series B — Magnitt
- sa-cro In-corpus:
reports/countries/SA-saudi-arabia.md
Source
Biography extracted from hala.md. See matrix.md for standards-support matrix if present.