Fintech

Public Markets

Oct 30, 2026

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2 min read

Pakistani fintech AdalFi plans IPO to expand Islamic and SME lending

The digital lending platform, backed by COTU Ventures and Chimera Ventures, has facilitated more than PKR110 billion in loans through partner banks.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

Ziina secures UAE approvals for merchant payments and international transfers

Oct 26, 2026

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1 min read

Ziina secures UAE approvals for merchant payments and international transfers

The fintech says it processes more than $1.5 billion in annualised payments as it expands beyond its digital wallet into a broader financial platform.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

Oct 20, 2026

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1 min read

Saudi fintech Vrtx raises $3.6M pre-seed to help businesses launch wallets and cards

Founded by former Tweeq colleagues, the fintech has backing from Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures and preliminary SAMA approval for an electronic money licence.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

Palmer Luckey’s banking on Syria, and why noon is cashing out of payments

Oct 19, 2026

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8 min read

Palmer Luckey’s banking on Syria, and why noon is cashing out of payments

Why Syria’s banking system remains broken despite sanctions relief, whose interests Palmer Luckey’s Erebor’s arrival could serve, and what noon’s payments sale reveals about NEOPAY’s regional ambitions and noon’s priorities ahead of a potential IPO.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

UAE’s NEOPAY agrees to buy 65% of noon payments to expand into Saudi Arabia and Egypt

Oct 5, 2026

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2 min read

UAE’s NEOPAY agrees to buy 65% of noon payments to expand into Saudi Arabia and Egypt

The deal would transfer control of noon’s payments arm to the Arcapita- and DgPays-backed buyer as the wider e-commerce group pursues its public-market ambitions.

Jamie Lane

Public Markets

Egyptian fintech MNT-Halan plans October IPO of its local business, offering up to 25% stake

Oct 1, 2026

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2 min read

Egyptian fintech MNT-Halan plans October IPO of its local business, offering up to 25% stake

The sale will cover only MNT-Halan’s Egyptian operations, with its international businesses staying private. Parent company MNT Investments plans to inject up to EGP 4 billion into the local business after the IPO.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

Open finance, AI agents and the price of being chosen

Sep 30, 2026

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12 min read

Open finance, AI agents and the price of being chosen

The UAE’s open finance payment volumes have nearly quadrupled in three months, with Lean doing almost all the running. Now add AI agents to the mix, and there’s the small matter of who wins the customer, who moves the money, and who gets to take a cut.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

erad raises $22M Series A led by MEVP as SME financing reaches $133M

Sep 28, 2026

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2 min read

erad raises $22M Series A led by MEVP as SME financing reaches $133M

The Riyadh-based fintech has received more than $1 billion in financing requests and is expanding into logistics, manufacturing and wholesale after reporting eightfold annual growth in Saudi Arabia.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

Paymob raises $35M pre-Series C co-led by Mubadala and EBRD as GCC nears half of revenue

Sep 21, 2026

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2 min read

Paymob raises $35M pre-Series C co-led by Mubadala and EBRD as GCC nears half of revenue

The Egyptian payments company has grown GCC revenue sevenfold in 18 months, with Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala joining its cap table as Paymob increasingly shifts its growth towards the Gulf.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

OCTA raises $3.5M seed led by MEVP as it expands into AI agents for accounting firms

Sep 17, 2026

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2 min read

OCTA raises $3.5M seed led by MEVP as it expands into AI agents for accounting firms

The round brings OCTA’s total funding to $5.6M, as the startup expands from receivables and payables into AI agents that handle bookkeeping, reconciliations and month-end close.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

Tabby raises $233M Series F at $6.5B valuation as it pushes beyond BNPL

Sep 14, 2026

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2 min read

Tabby raises $233M Series F at $6.5B valuation as it pushes beyond BNPL

The round comes as new Saudi lending licences and a UAE wallet licence expand it into longer-term credit, SME finance and everyday money management.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

Tarabut secures $50M from Saudi banks and business groups as it deepens Kingdom focus

Sep 14, 2026

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2 min read

Tarabut secures $50M from Saudi banks and business groups as it deepens Kingdom focus

Riyad Bank, SAB Invest’s X-Tech Fund and GIB Saudi Arabia are among the backers, three years after Tarabut’s $32 million Series A was itself raised to expand in Saudi.

Jamie Lane

Public Markets

Inside Abhi’s IPO: the bank, the gold book and the logic behind its listing

Sep 9, 2026

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14 min read

Inside Abhi’s IPO: the bank, the gold book and the logic behind its listing

Abhi is preparing to list the Pakistani microfinance bank that now accounts for roughly four-fifths of its lending, with gold-backed loans at the heart of the business. We dug into the numbers and spoke with founder Omair Ansari about why it’s going public now and what investors are actually buying.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

Sav raises $3.5M pre-Series A led by Phoenix Venture Partners for Saudi expansion

Sep 7, 2026

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2 min read

Sav raises $3.5M pre-Series A led by Phoenix Venture Partners for Saudi expansion

The UAE consumer fintech has broadened from a savings app into a regulated personal-finance platform spanning cards, investments and account aggregation, taking total funding to about $6 million.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

PayTabs agrees $100M-plus deal for Amazon Payment Services’ MENA operations

Sep 7, 2026

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2 min read

PayTabs agrees $100M-plus deal for Amazon Payment Services’ MENA operations

The Saudi payments company will take over a business that began as PayFort before joining Amazon through its 2017 acquisition of Souq, creating a combined platform expected to process more than SAR 150 billion annually.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

Alaan gets in-principle UAE approval for SVF and payments licences as it pushes into business banking

Sep 4, 2026

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1 min read

Alaan gets in-principle UAE approval for SVF and payments licences as it pushes into business banking

Final approval would allow the fintech to hold customer funds, issue corporate cards and run cross-border payments under its own CBUAE licences as it expands beyond spend management into business banking.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

FlyAkeed raises $25.2M across Sanabil-led equity round and Artal sukuk

Sep 3, 2026

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1 min read

FlyAkeed raises $25.2M across Sanabil-led equity round and Artal sukuk

The Saudi corporate travel platform is adding a deferred-payment layer to its software, with the new financing split between equity and Shariah-compliant debt.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

Saudi SME lending startup Abwab.ai raises $4M led by Speedinvest and MEVP

Sep 3, 2026

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2 min read

Saudi SME lending startup Abwab.ai raises $4M led by Speedinvest and MEVP

The startup says its technology is used by more than 13 financial institutions and has processed over SAR 1 billion in SME loans.

Jamie Lane

Foodtech

COFE closes $43M pre-IPO round at $178M valuation, targets Saudi listing by 2029

Sep 2, 2026

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2 min read

COFE closes $43M pre-IPO round at $178M valuation, targets Saudi listing by 2029

Wa’ed Ventures returns three years after leading its $15m Series B, as the Kuwait-born coffee-ordering app remakes itself into enterprise procurement and commerce software.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

Dubai-based Fasset raises $68M Series C at $1B valuation, only 3 months after previous round

Aug 24, 2026

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1 min read

Dubai-based Fasset raises $68M Series C at $1B valuation, only 3 months after previous round

Annualised transaction volume has passed $40 billion across 125 countries, according to Fasset, up from $32 billion when it announced its Series B in May.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

Tamara’s Saudi Q2 revenue more than doubles as new lending book closes in on BNPL

Aug 11, 2026

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3 min read

Tamara’s Saudi Q2 revenue more than doubles as new lending book closes in on BNPL

Q2 revenue more than doubled to SAR 707 million as consumer-financing receivables reached SAR 3.14 billion, just behind the SAR 3.36 billion held in pay-in-instalments.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

Tabby's Saudi unit Q2 profit falls 54% as revenue grows 21% year on year

Aug 10, 2026

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3 min read

Tabby's Saudi unit Q2 profit falls 54% as revenue grows 21% year on year

The Riyadh-headquartered BNPL lender's repayments outpaced new lending by roughly SAR 360 million between April and June, as its new SAMA licence opens a push into longer-term consumer and SME lending.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

UAE credit reports to include Tabby and Tamara accounts from July

Jul 31, 2026

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2 min read

UAE credit reports to include Tabby and Tamara accounts from July

Al Etihad Credit Bureau will add BNPL data from both providers, covering existing and new customers and historical transactions.

Jamie Lane

Public Markets

Abhi Microfinance Bank plans $11M Karachi listing, offering 14% in new shares

Jul 31, 2026

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2 min read

Abhi Microfinance Bank plans $11M Karachi listing, offering 14% in new shares

The lender, formerly FINCA Microfinance Bank, was acquired by Pakistani fintech group Abhi 18 months ago and swung from a Rs1.75 billion ($6.3 million) annual loss to its most profitable year on record.

Jamie Lane

Fintech

Revolut wins in-principle approval from Dubai's VARA to offer crypto services in the UAE

Jul 17, 2026

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1 min read

Revolut wins in-principle approval from Dubai's VARA to offer crypto services in the UAE

The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority approval covers broker-dealer, exchange, and management and investment services, and lands a month after Revolut completed its Central Bank licensing for payments, stacking a second regulatory pillar under a UAE launch that has yet to be given a date.

Jamie Lane