It was announced today that Riyadh-based Ecommerce platform Tamara has brought $110M up in a Series A round. The round was led by the popular leading global payment processor Checkout.com. Tamara is popular because of its “buy now pay later” motto. The round is contained obligation and value and comes only four months after the Saudi fintech brought $6M up making it the country’s biggest seed round to date.
The most recent arrangement is the biggest ever speculation brought by a fintech up in the MENA region and that’s not all. It is likewise the biggest Series A round of the area and the biggest ever venture raised by a Saudi startup. For setting, there are just about six new companies that have brought $100M rounds in the same region.
It’s quite unfortunate that Tamara pretty much refused to share the breakdown so it is hard to conjecture on the valuation. But that doesn’t mean we can have a rough estimation of its business since it’s not easy to accept that a huge piece of the arrangement came in as an obligation for the most convenience. The London-settled platform that was esteemed at $15B in its latest financing prior to this year has recently made a couple of acquisitions. They also have invested quite a lot however Tamara is at its best form now right in the Middle East.
It’s no wonder that Checkout.com has its own sizeable business in the Middle East. They’re in ties with startups like Careem, Property Finder, Deliveroo, and numerous others. As it goes about as a connection between dealers of various sizes and their clients for different benefits that come along with it, it has every one of the significant experiences on digital transactions along with the access to consumers. Its interest in Tamara can be taken as a colossal demonstration of positive support in future entrepreneurs across Saudi Arabia.
Tamara was founded back in September last year and it has been popular ever since. The platform lets connect both online and offline merchants from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to offer trading with the motto “buy now pay later” to their clients. The platform also allows clients to concede all the transactions for 30 days or pay it in 3 equivalent portions throughout two months which makes it one of the most convenient options for consumers.
The important part here is that the alternatives are accessible on the checkout pages and through in-store QR codes. The transactions can be made using their own phone app and it supports several payment methods including Mada, Visa, Mastercard, and Apple Pay, and several others.
As per its site, Tamara’s administrations are Shariah-compliant so there’s no need for the clients to pay any interest to use it, and that’s more than what it intends to do. The cash roll in from dealers who need to pay an expense for the services provided by Tamara. They’re willing to pay the expense as it assists them with expanding their deals. The perfect attraction point of the platform is that they provide COD.
The co-founder and CEO of Tamara, Abdulmajeed Alsukhan said,“Tamara was born to make a change. The region and the world need payment solutions that are transparent and customer-oriented. At Tamara, we offer our customers an alternative to credit cards and Cash on Delivery (COD), which enhances their shopping experience. Our solution also increases our merchant partners’ efficiency as well as their customer satisfaction,” stated in a statement.
“This transaction is only the beginning of our journey and a great sign that we are on the right track. We are proud to have the trust of such an investor and we will continue expanding our products to transform the payments industry in the region,” added the CEO who had previously also co-founded the leading Saudi grocery marketplace, Nana.
Sebastian Reis, Executive Vice President at Checkout.com, said, “As the partner of choice for the region’s leading eCommerce merchants, Checkout.com is always on the lookout for ways to enhance the ecosystem. Tamara has rapidly proven itself to be a natural leader in the BNPL space. Our investment in Tamara will help the team realize their vision and expand rapidly, driving greater conversions for retailers and offer more flexibility for consumers.”
