The Saudi fintech Tamara obtained a source of funding from US investment bank Goldman Sachs for up to $150mn.

Since its founding in September 2020, Tamara has received up to $366mn in funding altogether, including equity and debt. Six million people use the service in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

Tamara, which offers buy now, pay later (BNPL) products to customers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, will use the receivables storage facility provided by Goldman Sachs to help finance its product and expand into new industries.

“This deal is the first of its kind in the region and a testament to the company’s performance and the team’s ability to win the trust of top-tier global financial institutions like Goldman Sachs during a difficult global macroeconomic climate,’’ says Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Co-Founder and CEO of Tamara.

‘’We believe that Goldman Sachs, with their track record in working with similar companies of our stage globally, is the ideal financing partner for Tamara. It is crucial for us to work with global and regional financial partners with strong balance sheets that have the capacity to provide incremental funding to support our vision.”

Tamara serves as a commerce enabler for over 15,000 partner merchants who sell items and services both online and in-store. Regional and global companies such as SHEIN, IKEA, Jarir, Noon, and H&M, as well as local small and medium businesses, are among the partners.

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Together with local small and medium-sized businesses, these partners include regional and international companies like SHEIN, IKEA, Jarir, Noon, and H&M.

In addition to bigger basket sizes, higher conversion, and smaller returns, Tamara’s partners also gain access to customers with strong intent through co-marketing.

Currently, over one-third of Tamara’s clients start their purchasing trip via the Tamara app, resulting in a noticeably higher return on advertising spend for Tamara’s partner retailers.

Alsukhan adds, “Providing excellent products and services to our customers across shopping, payments and banking is at the core of Tamara. The team has shown the ability to scale a complex B2B and B2C business model, and BNPL is just an initial offering. We see a much deeper demand that we can fulfil with the same technology and customer-first approach.”

Besides the global macroeconomic decline, the GCC, particularly Saudi Arabia, continues to show significant growth. The fintech industry is rapidly evolving and has recently attracted considerable global investment.

With a high prevalence of cash on delivery in online shopping and a low credit card penetration rate when compared to other markets, the region is still expanding.

The population is primarily geared towards the youth, who account for more than 70% of the population and are extremely tech-savvy.

Tamara’s digital-first strategy focused on Millennials and Gen Z positions the company at the forefront of this transition.