Gulf BNPL Firm Tabby Raises $233 Million at a $6.5 Billion Valuation

RIYADH — Tabby, the Saudi- and UAE-based buy-now-pay-later company, has raised $233 million in a Series F round that values the company at $6.5 billion, up from its prior valuation. The round is led by Blue Pool Capital, the Hong Kong investment firm associated with Alibaba co-founder and chairman Joseph Tsai, with existing investors HSG, Wellington Management and Arbor Ventures also participating.

The raise is structured as new equity rather than debt, and closing is contingent on regulatory approvals, including sign-off from the Saudi Central Bank, which oversees Tabby's lending activity in the kingdom. That regulatory step is a reminder that BNPL providers operating in the Gulf sit inside a licensed consumer-credit framework rather than an unregulated gray zone, a distinction that has become more pronounced as Saudi and UAE regulators have built out specific rules for the sector in recent years.

Tabby has said the new capital will support an expansion beyond its original installment-payments product into a broader set of financial services across Saudi Arabia and the UAE, including consumer and small-business credit and wallet or cash-management features — the same trajectory several BNPL providers globally have pursued as they look to diversify revenue beyond merchant fees on point-of-sale installment loans.

The size of the round and the identity of its lead investor are notable for a regional fintech: Blue Pool Capital's backing brings a large, internationally connected investor into a company whose business is still concentrated in two Gulf markets, and the $6.5 billion valuation places Tabby among the more highly valued privately held fintechs to emerge from the region. Neither Tabby nor Blue Pool Capital has disclosed a specific timeline for the round to close or further detail on how the expansion into broader financial services will be sequenced.