HALA, Saudi Arabia’s leading fintech and provider of embedded financial services to micro, small and medium enterprises, has raised $157 million in a Series B investment round, the largest fintech Series B funding rounds in the Middle East.
The funding round is led by The Rise Fund, TPG’s multi-sector global impact investing strategy, and Sanabil Investments, a wholly owned company by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), with participation from QED, Raed Ventures, Impact 46, Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), Isometry Capital, Arzan VC, BNVT Capital, Kaltaire Investments, Endeavor Catalyst, Nour Nouf Ventures, Khwarizmi Ventures, and Wamda Capital.
According to Esam Alnahdi Co-founder and Chairman, HALA, “This landmark investment is a turning point for HALA, reflecting on our relentless pursuit of innovation and excellence in serving small businesses. We are honored that our new investors recognize the potential of our vision and the impact we aspire to make in the MSME landscape. Our journey is just beginning, and this support fuels our drive to create meaningful change.”
These funds will be utilized to strengthen HALA’s position in the Saudi market and offer more embedded financial services, lending products catered to support the growth of MSMES and Freelancers as well as to expand HALA’s presence regionally.
This investment follows on from HALA’s impressive year-on-year growth that validates the robustness and scalability of its operating model, which is geared toward sustainable growth as well as playing a key role in its home market in supporting the Saudi Vision 2030 goal to significantly enhance the contribution of SMEs to GDP.
HALA offers a comprehensive embedded financial services offering, ranging from business accounts, card issuance, payment and transfer services, and POS solutions to financing and corporate cards. The company currently serves over 142,000 businesses and processes more than $8 billion of annual transactions.
“As we look at the next phase of our growth, we believe that our diverse group of prominent investors bring valuable global expertise and perspective which will elevate our ambitions to execute with even greater scale and impact,” said Maher Loubieh, Co-founder and Group CEO, HALA.
The SME sector in Saudi Arabia presents a significant market opportunity for HALA, given the sector’s vital role in the economy. With approximately 614,000 to 1.8 million SMEs, which account for about 90–99% of private sector businesses, the growth potential for digital payment solutions is substantial.
These SMEs contribute an estimated 20–35% of the Kingdom’s GDP, roughly $310–375 billion USD annually, and employ around 4.7 million people across key sectors like retail, manufacturing, and construction. The sector has experienced a 45% increase in GDP contribution from 2016 to 2021, driven by government initiatives, digital transformation efforts, and increased financing support, creating a fertile environment for innovative payment services.
“HALA is uniquely positioned to empower micro and small businesses, a key pillar in the region’s economy, by delivering business owners and their customers a broad and growing set of payment solutions,” Yemi Lalude, Partner at TPG and Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa for The Rise Funds, commented.