Paymob raises $35 million pre-Series C to expand payments business across MENA
Egypt's Paymob raised $35M led by Mubadala and EBRD to expand its payments business across MENA, as Gulf revenue grows sevenfold.
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Egyptian payments infrastructure company Paymob has closed a $35 million pre-Series C round to be used for expansion across the Middle East and North Africa.
Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development co-led the round, with participation from British International Investment, Global Ventures, and DPI Ventures.
The round brings Paymob’s total funding to roughly $125 million. The company had previously raised $72 million through two Series B rounds, a $50 million round in 2022 and a $22 million extension in 2024.
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Paymob plans to direct the new capital toward its core payments acceptance business, SME-focused products, and new offerings built around agentic commerce, tools designed for software agents that transact on behalf of users.
Founded in 2015 by Alain El Hajj, Islam Shawky, and Mostafa El Menessy, Paymob now operates in Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman, supporting more than 60 payment methods and serving over 390,000 merchants through its gateway, point-of-sale terminals, SoftPOS, and payment links.
The raise comes as MENA’s funding environment tightens. MAGNiTT data shows startups in the region raised $1.35 billion across 214 deals in the first half of 2026, a 22% drop in funding and a 41% drop in deal count year over year. Fintech funding specifically fell 9% to $617 million across 57 deals, with deal volume down by half. The UAE and Saudi Arabia accounted for about 85% of that fintech funding, or $523 million.
The Gulf has become the company’s fastest-growing market. Paymob says its combined revenue across all four countries has tripled in the past 18 months, while GCC revenue alone has grown sevenfold and now makes up close to half of total revenue.
After receiving a Retail Payment Services License from the UAE central bank in January 2025, the company added about 20,000 merchants across its three Gulf markets.
