Marhaba, fintech friends, & happy 2026 🌟

2025 was a big year for fintech in MENA.

It retained its spot as the region's MVP, attracting about $3 billion in Q3 alone, with total startup funding reaching $6.6 billion year‑to‑date by the end of that quarter.

There were deals that were... big deals: Tabby ($160 million), HALA ($157 million), CredibleX ($100 million), Alaan ($48 million), Huspy ($59 million), Nawy ($75 million)...

We also saw plenty of consolidation. Fintech logged eight M&As in the first nine months of 2025 alone, with more throughout the year. Paribu x CoinMENA; Qardy x CPME; Fawry's serial acquisitions, to name a few.

Regulation really ramped up...

• VARA expanded its framework to cover real-world asset issuance
• AE Coin became the UAE’s first fully licensed dirham-backed stablecoin
• The DFSA formally recognized USDC and EURC under the DIFC’s crypto token regime
• Region-wide, open finance went from policy to implementation, with Oman and Kuwait publishing open banking frameworks and Pay10 going live on the UAE’s Open Finance rails.

Egypt approved its first fully digital bank. The UAE completed its first government transaction using the Digital Dirham.

Global players entered, and were welcomed with earnest: Robinhood applied for a DFSA license. Revolut entered the market. Abu Dhabi extended its digital-asset perimeter by licensing Binance’s multi-entity structure, recognizing Ripple’s RLUSD and granting Circle a full Financial Services Permission.

When it comes to growth, fintech is MENA's most consistent sector, which means 2026 will be as big - and arguably, bigger.

💸 Fundraises and Exits

🇸🇦 Aamar, a fintech for real estate platform, raises over $4 million in a seed funding round, led by Aqar App

🇦🇪 Premialab, a UAE-HQ, HK-born analytics platform for quantitative investment strategies, raises $220 million in a growth funding round led by KKR

🇦🇪 International Holding Company acquires a 70% stake in Peko Holdings, a Dubai-based payment tech company

🇸🇦 Oumla raises an undisclosed seed extension round led by Core Vision and Avalanche

🇦🇪 Lucid Capital, a UAE-based algorithmic trading company, raises $2.5 million in a seed funding round led by Tharawat Holding and Singular Link

🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches

🇦🇪 Network International partners with Al Maryah Community Bank to enable stablecoin payments in the UAE

🇦🇪 Business banking platform, Yuze, partners with digital bank, Zand, to offer digital business accounts to small businesses in the UAE

🇶🇦🇸🇾 QNB receives a Mastercard license to offer digital payment solutions in Syria

🇨🇦🇶🇦 Canada's VoPay establishes its global HQ in Doha, Qatar

🇦🇪 Commercial Bank of Dubai's retail clients officially connect to the UAE's Open Finance framework, through a partnership with Pay10, the first to be licensed under the nation's Open Finance framework

🇦🇪 Presight partners with First Abu Dhabi Bank on an AI analytics platform that helps identify and engage high-potential corporate and institutional clients

🇦🇪🇮🇪 The UAE's Qashio opens the doors of its new EU HQ in Dublin

🇦🇪 Maalexi builds MAATEX on Avalanche: a platform that will tokenize global food and agricultural commodities using real-world assets

🏛 Licensing & Regulations

🇦🇪 RAKBANK becomes licensed to issue an AED-backed payment token

🇴🇲 Oman plans to establish the Oman Global Financial Centre

🇴🇲 The Central Bank of Oman approves a new Shariah-compliant regulatory framework for finance and financial leasing businesses

🇪🇬 Egypt's FRA introduces a dedicated register for companies that provide tech-driven risk assessment systems for non-banking financial activities

🇸🇦 Saudi's Capital Market Authority opens its capital market to all categories of foreign investors as of February 1, 2026

🇹🇳 Tunisia's Parliament amends its 2026 Finance Law to allow Tunisian residents to open foreign currency bank accounts

🇯🇴 The Central Bank of Jordan grants ValU a license to launch consumer financing services in the Kingdom

🇸🇦 Saudi's Central Bank mandates all financial institutions under its supervision to provide 25 core banking services free of charge

🇦🇪 Comera Finance receives CBUAE licensing to carry out retail and wholesale finance activities

🇪🇬 Egypt's FRA grants Egypt Post a license to establish Sawa for microinsurance services; Mnzl a digital real estate and consumer finance license; Lucky a consumer finance license and Thndr an asset and portfolio management license.

Thank you for tuning in!

If you have feedback on this edition of This Week in Fintech MENA, please reach out on LinkedIn.

Until next week,

Salam ✌🏼