Saudi ‘buy now pay later’ startup Tamara closes biggest seed round ever in Kingdom
January 20, 2021, 10:40 am

Saudi ‘buy now pay later’ startup Tamara closes biggest seed round ever in Kingdom

A Saudi money changer displays Saudi Riyal banknotes at a currency exchange shop in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (File photo: Reuters)

Saudi Arabia-based startup Tamara closed a $6 million seed investment round led by venture capital firm Impact46 on Wednesday. The round is the largest seed ever in Saudi Arabia.

Tamara allows customers to purchase items online without initially paying for them. Instead, at the checkout screen the customer can choose to pay for the item 30 days later, or in three installments with no additional fees.

Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala, and Nama, along with other Saudi and regional family offices were involved in the funding round, according to a statement. The funding will be used to help grow Tamara’s operations in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

“We enable merchants to grow their sales and entice their customers with our Buy-Now-Pay-Later and installment services that do not include any fees the customer has to pay. We strongly believe Tamara will be a game-changer for both merchants and customers. It will positively re-shape the purchasing power in the market,” Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Tamara’s co-founder and CEO said in the statement.

The $6 million investment is now the largest seed round ever in Saudi Arabia, nearly doubling the previous record of $3.5 million held by fintech firm Lean Technologies, according to MAGNiTT, a startup data platform.

Tamara also holds the record for the Kingdom’s largest pre-seed investment round at $800,000, which was also led by Impact46, MAGNiTT said.

In September last year, Tamara announced that it was partnering with Salla, an ecommerce platform that powers online stores in the Kingdom.

In a statement released at the time, Tamara said that its payment solution would now be available for customers shopping at more than 10,000 merchants powered by Salla, which itself provides a payment and logistics solution to prospective online store owners. Salla facilitates the backend payments for small businesses in Saudi Arabia in a similar model to Shopify.

Ecommerce surged in Saudi Arabia over the past year as customers respond to coronavirus rules, reducing the amount of shopping conducted at traditional brick-and-mortar stores.

“The fintech market is expected to reach $33 billion in transaction value by 2023. We believe that Buy Now Pay Later is an untapped area in this huge market, and we are proud to support the Saudi pioneers leading Tamara who will surely play a major role in the transformation and future of financial services in KSA & GCC,” Abdulaziz Alomran, CEO of Impact46 said following the seed funding round.

source: Matthew Amlôt

Image source: Reuters

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”