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This week on VC React (live from Money20/20 Middle East, Riyadh): we capture the energy on the ground, then unpack Tamara’s $1.4B asset-backed facility with Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Apollo (a playbook for scalable, sustainable BNPL?); explore Hala’s $157M Series B and its SME journey from payments → banking → financing (a credible path to “MENA’s Square”?); and consider Robinhood’s plan to open early-stage access to everyone—what smart guardrails make democratisation work at scale?

This week’s guests