Saudi fintech Hala raises new funding from private equity giant TPG

Riyadh-based fintech Hala has secured new funding from one of the world’s leading private equity firms, TPG, The Information reported last week. The startup has not yet publicly announced this agreement. It was revealed for the last time financing round was a $6.5 million Series A in 2021, led by Saudi Arabia’s Impact46.

Specific details of the financing were not revealed, but the report notes that Hala secured the financing earlier this year from the US headquarters which has more than $220 billion in assets under management and has invested in companies such as Spotify, Airbnb, Box, Calm and many others.

Founded in 2018 by Esam Alnahdi and Maher Loubieh, Hala it was previously known as Halalah and started as one of the first mobile wallets in Saudi Arabia. It subsequently focused on providing financial services to SMEs (mainly retailers), with the aim of becoming a bank for small and medium-sized businesses in the Kingdom.

According to its website, Hala now offers SMEs a bank account, POS solutions (through a device and a soft POS that turns any mobile phone into a POS terminal) and debit cards equipped with expense management controls. Through these products the startup seeks to facilitate incoming and outgoing payments for SMEs.

In addition to SMEs, Hala also targets freelancers certified by the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources, providing them with bank accounts, debit cards and payment acceptance solutions.

The Saudi startup claims to serve more than 100,000 merchants with its POS solutions, generating an annual transaction volume of more than $18 billion.

Last week Hala also received a license from the Saudi Central Bank to provide debt-based crowdfunding solutions. The startup has had the Electronic Money Institute (EMI) license for years now. It was one of the first local fintechs to receive the license.

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