Wallets/tabby
Tabby
0 standards supported
Overview
Tabby is MENA's largest BNPL fintech + first independent fintech unicorn in the Middle East — UAE-headquartered with primary markets in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait [1, 2, ae-cro]. By 2025, Tabby had 15+ million users + $10+ billion annual transaction volume + 40,000+ retailers + $1.8B+ funding. February 2025 Series E at $3.3 billion valuation; October 2025 secondary share sale pushed implied valuation to $4.5+ billion — most-valuable fintech in MENA. Tabby's Saudi subsidiary FY2025 results: $55M net profit on $378M revenue (Ernst & Young audited).
History
2019 — Tabby founded in UAE by Hosam Arab + Daniil Barkalov as MENA Pay-in-4 BNPL pioneer.
2020-2024 — Mass UAE + Saudi adoption + Kuwait expansion [1].
February 2025 — Series E at $3.3 billion valuation [1]: First independent fintech unicorn in Middle East.
October 2025 — Secondary share sale at $4.5+ billion implied valuation [1].
FY2025 — Saudi subsidiary: $55M net profit on $378M revenue (E&Y audited) [1].
Ownership & operator
Operating entity: Tabby (UAE-headquartered).
Co-founders: Hosam Arab (CEO; former Namshi) + Daniil Barkalov.
Major investors: PayPal Ventures, Sequoia (now Peak XV), Mubadala Investment, Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), Blossom Capital, Bond, Endeavor Catalyst + others.
Funding raised: $1.8+ billion (multiple rounds; latest Series E Feb 2025 + Oct 2025 secondary).
Regulators: SAMA (Saudi Arabia) + CBUAE (UAE) + per-country.
Technical integration
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Channels | Tabby mobile app (iOS + Android) + merchant-checkout integration + Tabby Card |
| Identifiers | Phone + email |
| Core products | Pay in 4 (4 interest-free installments) + Tabby Card (spend anywhere Visa/Mastercard accepted with Pay-in-4 conversion) |
| Merchant integration | Tabby checkout button at 40K+ retailers |
Users & growth
- Users: 15+ million
- Annual transaction volume: $10+ billion
- Retailers: 40,000+
- Funding raised: $1.8+ billion
- Series E valuation (Feb 2025): $3.3 billion
- Oct 2025 secondary share sale valuation: $4.5+ billion
Saudi subsidiary FY2025:
- Net profit: $55 million
- Revenue: $378 million
Use cases
Pay-in-4 BNPL at MENA retailers (cardinal use); Tabby Card spending; merchant-checkout integration at 40K+ retailers; primarily young, urban consumers in UAE + Saudi + Kuwait.
Implementations & partners
Operator: Tabby.
Major investors: PayPal Ventures, Sequoia, Mubadala, Saudi PIF, Blossom Capital, Bond, Endeavor Catalyst.
Major MENA BNPL competitor: [[tamara]] (Saudi-headquartered; 20M+ users; $2.4B Goldman Sachs facility).
Other MENA fintech competitors: stc-pay + [[careem-pay]] (super-app) + traditional bank credit cards.
Regulators: SAMA + CBUAE + per-country.
Fun facts
- 2019 founded by Hosam Arab + Daniil Barkalov in UAE — MENA Pay-in-4 BNPL pioneer.
- 15M+ users + $10B+ annual transaction volume + 40K+ retailers (2025).
- Feb 2025 Series E at $3.3B; Oct 2025 secondary at $4.5B+ — first independent fintech unicorn in MENA + most-valuable.
- $55M net profit on $378M revenue (Saudi subsidiary FY2025) — profitable scale.
- Backed by Saudi PIF + Mubadala (UAE sovereign-wealth) + PayPal Ventures — substantial sovereign + strategic investor mix.
- MENA BNPL market projected $5.8B in 2025 (+19.4% YoY) — context.
- Primary competitor [[tamara]] is Saudi-headquartered while Tabby is UAE-headquartered — interesting MENA BNPL duopoly.
Comparison
| Feature | Tabby | [[tamara]] | [[klarna]] (global comparable) | [[affirm]] | Afterpay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Tabby (UAE-HQ) | Tamara (Saudi-HQ) | Klarna Group plc (NYSE: KLAR) | Affirm Holdings (NASDAQ: AFRM) | Block, Inc. (XYZ) |
| Markets | UAE + Saudi + Kuwait | Saudi + UAE + Bahrain + Kuwait | 45+ globally | US + CA + AU + GB | 8 globally |
| Users (2025) | 15M+ | 20M+ | 180M total / 114M Q3 active | ~27M | Major (Block subsidiary) |
| Valuation | $4.5B+ (Oct 2025) | $1B+ unicorn (TechCrunch Dec 2023) | $15.1B IPO NYSE Sept 2025 | NASDAQ AFRM | Block (XYZ) |
| Annual volume | $10B+ | n/a | $32.7B Q3 GMV | $37B | $20B+ |
| Saudi profitability | $55M FY25 net profit / $378M rev | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Status
Active, most-valuable MENA fintech + first MENA fintech unicorn [1]:
- Tabby (UAE-HQ) since 2019.
- 15M+ users + $10B+ annual volume + 40K+ retailers + $1.8B+ funding.
- Feb 2025 Series E at $3.3B + Oct 2025 secondary at $4.5B+ valuation.
- Saudi subsidiary FY2025: $55M net profit / $378M revenue.
Sources
- 1 Tabby largest MENA BNPL — Medium
- 2 Tabby first MENA fintech unicorn — Entrepreneur
- 3 MENA BNPL $8.8B reshaping checkout — Apaya
- 4 Tabby success story — UAE Startup Story
- ae-cro In-corpus:
reports/countries/AE-uae.md
Source
Biography extracted from tabby.md. See matrix.md for standards-support matrix if present.