Goldman-Backed Saudi Firm Tamara Hits Unicorn Valuation - Bloomberg
Saudi Arabian financial technology company Tamara, which is backed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., has been valued at over $1 billion in its latest equity funding round.
Tamara raised $340 million from investors including Sanabil, a unit of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, and SNB Capital, a unit of the kingdom’s largest bank, according to a statement from the fintech firm.
Many startups in the Middle East faced a tougher fundraising environment this year as a global slowdown in venture deals that begun in 2022 spread to the region. Venture funding volumes for Middle East and North Africa based startups dropped 44% in the first nine months of the year, according to data provider Magnitt.
Tamara, one of the Middle East’s biggest buy now, pay later startups, is starting to consider an initial public offering in the next few years, Chief Executive Officer Abdulmajeed Alsukhan said in an interview.
“An IPO in the Saudi market is something we believe is not only attainable but desirable,” said Alsukhan, who is also co-founder of the three-year-old firm. “There’s huge demand for companies like Tamara to IPO,” although a share offering is probably a few years away, he said.
The latest equity funding round for Tamara follows a debt raise last month that was backed by Goldman Sachs. The US bank also helped fund a debt facility for the company earlier this year.
Tamara operates in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It has over 10 million users and works with more than 30,000 merchants.
Some of the region’s bigger startups have seen significant equity fundraising as they grow and plan share sales.
Tabby, another Saudi-based fintech company, hit a $1.5 billion valuation in a pre-IPO fundraising, the company said last month. Middle Eastern e-commerce firm Floward is working with Goldman Sachs and HSBC Holdings Plc for a planned IPO in Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg in November.
No comments:
Post a Comment