Paymob Raises $35M Pre-Series C to Expand MENA Payments Infrastructure

Paymob co-founders: Mostafa Menessy, Islam Shawky, and Alain El-Hajj

Egyptian fintech Paymob has secured $35 million in pre-Series C funding co-led by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The capital injection brings total disclosed funding to approximately $125 million.

This round pivots Paymob from its legacy position as a domestic Egyptian payments processor into a regional infrastructure provider, explicitly targeting Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets where it recently logged a seven-fold revenue increase. Strategically, this capital underwrites Paymob’s deployment of agentic commerce infrastructure—readying payment rails for AI-initiated transactions—and aggressive SME merchant acquisition.

Beyond immediate corporate scaling, this deal underscores a broader macroeconomic realignment: the consolidation of MENA’s fragmented digital economy under Abu Dhabi-backed financial corridors.

As global capital tightens, sovereign wealth intervention in regional fintech infrastructure signals a defensive play to anchor the Middle East’s post-oil, AI-integrated digital commerce supply chains.

Why Did Paymob Raise $35 Million in Pre-Series C Funding?

MENA payments infrastructure provider Paymob has raised $35 million in pre-Series C funding to accelerate its expansion across the Middle East and North Africa and broaden its product offering for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The round was co-led by Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Existing investors British International Investment (BII), Global Ventures, and DPI Ventures also participated.

Paymob will use the capital across three core priorities:

• Scaling its digital payments acceptance business across MENA

• Developing new products for SME merchants

• Building infrastructure for agentic commerce, where AI agents can increasingly discover products and initiate transactions on behalf of consumers

The funding marks a significant step in Paymob’s transition from an Egypt-focused payments company into a broader regional fintech platform.

How Fast Has Paymob’s Business Grown Across the GCC?

Paymob’s latest funding comes after substantial growth over the past 18 months, particularly in the Gulf.

According to the company, consolidated revenue across its four markets has increased 3x, while revenue generated from GCC markets has grown 7x. GCC markets now contribute close to 50% of Paymob’s total revenue.

Paymob’s GCC expansion has also accelerated its merchant acquisition.

The company secured a Retail Payment Services Licence from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) in January 2025. Since receiving the licence, Paymob has onboarded roughly 20,000 merchants across its three GCC markets.

The company currently operates across Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman, with its GCC business becoming an increasingly important contributor to group revenue. Industry reporting puts Paymob’s merchant base at more than 390,000 businesses across MENA.

Paymob Growth Metric	Latest Figure
Pre-Series C funding	$35M
Consolidated revenue growth	3x
GCC revenue growth	7x
Share of revenue from GCC	Nearly 50%
New GCC merchants since Jan. 2025	~20,000
Markets served	4
Payment methods supported	60+
MENA merchant base	390,000+

Why Is Mubadala Investing in Paymob?

The investment gives Mubadala Investment Company a new position on Paymob’s cap table and strengthens the company’s institutional backing as it expands across the Gulf.

Mubadala is investing through its MENA Venture Capital Fund, with Ali Eid Al Mheiri, Executive Director of UAE Diversified Assets at Mubadala’s UAE Investments Platform, highlighting Paymob’s UAE expansion and its role in supporting the country’s digital economy.

Mubadala said Paymob’s scalable payments infrastructure and GCC growth potential align with its focus on businesses that can expand across the region while supporting merchants and financial inclusion.

For Paymob, Mubadala’s participation adds a major Abu Dhabi-based institutional investor as the company increasingly shifts its growth strategy toward the GCC.

What Does EBRD’s Investment Mean for Paymob’s Next Phase?

The EBRD is returning as an investor after previously backing Paymob through its Venture Capital Investment Programme.

In September 2024, EBRD led a $22 million Series B extension alongside investors including BII, Global Ventures, A15, FMO, PayPal Ventures, and Endeavor Catalyst.

The latest $35 million round therefore represents a continuation of EBRD’s support for Paymob’s growth rather than a first-time relationship.

EBRD’s Bruno Lusic, VC and Growth Investor, described Paymob’s platform as a scalable payments layer designed to reduce friction for MENA’s SME economy and support expansion into markets that have historically had lower access to digital financial infrastructure.

How Is Paymob Simplifying MENA’s Fragmented Payments Market?

One of Paymob’s central propositions is to consolidate a fragmented payments landscape into a single technology layer.

MENA merchants can face different combinations of buy now, pay later (BNPL) providers, local card networks, bank instalment products, and other payment methods depending on the market in which they operate.

According to Paymob, merchants typically need seven to eight payment methods to operate effectively across the region. Each can involve separate integrations, commercial negotiations, and settlement processes.

Paymob aims to reduce this complexity through:

• One contract

• One API

• One merchant dashboard

• Access to 60+ payment methods

The company’s platform supports both online and offline payments, while also providing tools for transaction management, financial operations, and merchant growth.

What Is Paymob’s Strategy for SME Merchants and Agentic Commerce?

The new funding will also support Paymob’s next product phase, particularly products designed around SMEs and agentic commerce.

Agentic commerce refers to emerging transaction models in which AI agents can perform tasks such as discovering products, evaluating options, and initiating purchases on behalf of consumers.

For a payments infrastructure provider, this creates a new requirement: payment systems need to be capable of supporting transactions initiated through increasingly automated digital interactions.

Paymob says its roadmap will increasingly address this shift while continuing to serve the payment acceptance requirements of SMEs across MENA.

The company’s existing infrastructure already brings multiple payment methods into a single integration, creating the foundation for additional products and transaction flows. Paymob’s developer platform also includes capabilities for merchant onboarding and payouts beyond standard payment processing.

Who Are Paymob’s Investors?

The latest round expands an already broad institutional investor base.

Paymob’s investors include:

• Mubadala Investment Company

• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

• British International Investment (BII)

• Global Ventures

• DPI Ventures

• PayPal Ventures

• Kora Capital

• Clay Point Capital

• FMO

• A15

• Helios Digital Ventures

Paymob’s previous financing includes a $50 million Series B in 2022 and a $22 million Series B extension in 2024, bringing the Series B financing to $72 million. The latest round brings Paymob’s disclosed funding to roughly $125 million, according to industry reporting.

What Does Paymob’s $35M Round Signal for MENA Fintech?

Paymob’s latest financing reflects a broader shift in its business from domestic payments processing toward regional payments infrastructure.

The clearest indicator is the changing revenue mix: GCC revenue has increased 7x in 18 months and now represents nearly half of total revenue, while consolidated revenue has increased 3x over the same period.

The company is now using its GCC footprint not only to expand merchant acceptance but also to develop products for SMEs and emerging transaction models such as agentic commerce.

With $35 million in new capital, a presence across four markets, more than 60 payment methods, and a merchant base exceeding 390,000, Paymob enters its next phase with its regional expansion increasingly anchored in the Gulf.

The company was founded in 2015 by Islam Shawky, Alain El Hajj, and Mostafa Menessy and has since expanded from its Egyptian payments roots into a broader MENA fintech platform.