UAE-based Tabby, the Middle East's largest BNPL provider, raises a $54M Series B led by Sequoia Capital India and Saudi VC firm STV
Context & Ripple Effects
This $54M round is the second act of a fast escalation: a year earlier, Tabby raised a $50M Series B at a $300M valuation with STV already on the ticket, and STV's return alongside Sequoia Capital India signals that Gulf BNPL now attracts both regional and global growth capital. The round lands just months before Tabby's move into lending-scale financing, when it raised $150M in debt from Atalaya Capital and Partners for Growth — equity to fund the platform, debt to fund the loan book.
The competitive frame is Tamara, the Saudi BNPL rival that later raised a $340M Series C at a $1B valuation — a funding race that frames why Sequoia's entry matters for who leads the Gulf market.
First-order effects
- Sequoia Capital India's entry takes Tabby beyond regional capital, while STV's repeat backing doubles down on its home-market bet; the fresh equity arrives ahead of the debt raise Tabby needed to actually fund installment lending at scale.
Second-order effects
- Rival Tamara's subsequent $340M raise at a $1B valuation shows the round triggering an arms race, with Saudi institutions (SNB Capital, Sanabil) matching global VCs' commitment to the category.
Third-order effects
- The trajectory this round starts — through a $1.5B Series D, a $3.3B Series E, and a $4.5B secondary sale ahead of a possible IPO — points to Gulf BNPL consolidating into public-market candidates, with the CEO's stated profitability in the Gulf as the discipline holding the ladder together.
The trend: Gulf BNPL is scaling from regional venture bets into institutionally funded platforms on IPO trajectories, with Tabby's valuation ladder as the template and Tamara the counterweight.