Saudi fintech startup Tamara raises $2.4B in funding from Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Apollo

Saudi Arabia’s first fintech unicorn is doubling down on growth. Tamara, the buy-now-pay-later startup serving more than 20 million customers, has secured up to $2.4 billion in fresh funding backed by Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Apollo-managed funds. The financing, announced at the Money20/20 conference in Riyadh, marks one of the largest deals in the region’s fintech sector.

The package is structured as an asset-backed and Shariah-compliant facility, giving Tamara an immediate $1.4 billion to deploy, with another $1 billion available over three years pending approvals. It refinances and expands a previous $500 million facility led by Goldman Sachs, signaling strong conviction from global investors in Tamara’s momentum and the broader Gulf fintech market.

Founded in 2020, Tamara built its reputation as a buy-now-pay-later platform at a time when the pandemic accelerated demand for flexible payments. Today, the company works with over 87,000 merchants, including Apple, Amazon, and IKEA, and has ambitions to evolve into a financial “super app.”

Calling the deal a milestone, Tamara’s co-founder and CEO Abdulmajeed Al-Sukhan said: “This landmark facility with our global financing partners accelerates our growth trajectory, empowering us to invest further in building the most customer-centric financial super-app on earth.”

With $2.4B Backing from Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Apollo, Tamara Expands Saudi Arabia’s Buy-Now-Pay-Later Platform

The fresh capital strengthens Tamara’s ability to lend and expand into new credit and payment products. It also ties into Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy, which aims to boost private sector growth, attract international capital, and diversify the Kingdom’s economy beyond oil.

Tamara hit unicorn status in late 2023 after a $340 million Series C round backed by Sanabil Investments, owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and SNB Capital. That round valued the company at $1 billion. Less than two years later, the $2.4 billion facility cements Tamara’s role as a key player in the Gulf’s push to build a modern financial ecosystem.

With the BNPL sector gaining traction and competitors like Tabby raising their own rounds, the financing positions Tamara to scale further, extend its customer reach, and sharpen its edge in the region’s fintech race.