Egyptian payments company Paymob has closed a $35 million pre-Series C round to expand across the Middle East and North Africa, The Condia reported.
The round
- Co-leads: Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
- Also investing: British International Investment, Global Ventures and DPI Ventures
- Total raised to date: about $125 million, after $72 million across two Series B rounds in 2022 and 2024
The business
Founded in 2015 by Alain El Hajj, Islam Shawky and Mostafa El Menessy, Paymob operates in Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman. It supports more than 60 payment methods and serves over 390,000 merchants through its online gateway, POS terminals, SoftPOS (which turns a phone into a card reader) and payment links.
The Gulf is now its fastest-growing region. Paymob says total revenue has tripled in 18 months, while Gulf revenue has grown sevenfold and now makes up nearly half the total.
Where the money goes
Paymob will invest in its core payment acceptance business, products for small businesses, and new tools for agentic commerce, where AI agents make purchases on behalf of users.
Why it matters
The raise comes as funding in the region shrinks: MAGNiTT data shows MENA startups raised $1.35 billion in the first half of 2026, down 22%, with deal numbers down 41%. Paymob’s story echoes that of Nigerian payment companies such as Paystack, Flutterwave and Moniepoint: winning small merchants at home, then expanding to richer markets for growth.
Source: The Condia, citing MAGNiTT.
