By Jamila Gandhi, Forbes Middle East Staff
Egypt and Saudi Arabia comprise over 46 per cent of the list, with eight and six entries, respectively.
Forbes Middle East has revealed its ranking of the region’s Top 30 Fintech Companies, highlighting the most innovative Middle East-based companies using the latest technology to digitize banking, finance, and investment.
The list was curated considering the amount of money executed through digital channels in 2022, the number of app downloads and active users, geographical presence, annual growth, innovation, impact, valuation, and funding from venture capitalists. Fintech operations owned by exchange houses, traditional banks, governments, and telecom firms were excluded.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia comprise over 46 per cent of the list, with eight and six entries, respectively. Bahrain, Iraq, and Morocco all recorded one entry each.
Payment firms dominate the ranking. Of the 30 companies, three are primarily buy-now-pay-later platforms: Tabby, Tamara, and valU. Tabby raised US$58 million in a Series C funding round in January 2023, bringing its valuation to US$660 million, while Saudi’s Tamara announced in March 2023 a debt facility of US$150 million from Goldman Sachs, bringing its total funding in equity and debt to US$366 million.
Egypt’s Fawry for Banking Technology and Electronic Payments tops the 2023 ranking. The third-oldest company on the list, Fawry’s revenue grew by 37.5 per cent in 2022 to US$75 million. As of March 21, 2023, its market value was US$542 million. Morocco-headquartered HPS, founded in 1995, stands as the longest-serving Fintech firm. It is listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange with a market cap of US$435 million as of March 22, 2023. Conversely, U.A.E.-based YAP is the youngest listee, established in 2021. The financial super app raised US$45 million in funding and onboarded about 200,000 customers and over 10,000 SMEs.
Ranked fourth, Egypt’s MNT-Halan became the region’s latest unicorn in February 2023, after securing over US$200 million from Chimera Abu Dhabi.
Top 30 Fintech Companies 2023
While the companies on our 2023 list of the Middle East’s top Fintechs confirmed having zero or limited exposure to Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and are expecting it to have a minimal impact on regional players, the global banking and finance system is still reeling from the bank’s collapse and the potential longer term effects are still playing out. SVB was also a lender, banking partner, and payments technology provider. SVB’s clients accounted for 71per cent of all Fintech IPOs between 2020 and 2022.
Our list this year features 30 regional Fintechs. Egypt is the most represented country in the list with eight entries, followed by Saudi Arabia with six companies, and the U.A.E. and Kuwait with five each. Payment companies dominate, with Egypt’s e-payment platform Fawry ranking first, having processed transactions of US$6.8 billion and serving 49.4 million customers in 2022. Jordan’s MadfooatCom ranks second, having served over 3.6 million active users and processed transactions of US$14.7 billion in 2022.
Several companies have raised funding in the last year, including Egypt’s MNT-Halan, which secured over US$200 million from Chimera Abu Dhabi in February 2023 to become the latest unicorn from the region. Tabby raised US$58 million in a Series C funding round in January 2023, bringing its valuation to US$660 million, while Saudi’s Tamara announced in March 2023 a debt facility of US$150 million from Goldman Sachs, bringing its total funding in equity and debt to US$366 million.
1. Fawry for Banking Technology and Electronic Payments
2. MadfooatCom for ePayments Company
3. Optasia
4. MNT-Halan
5. Tabby
5. PayTabs Group
7. Tamara
8. HyperPay
9. MyFatoorah
10. Rasan Information Technology
11. Eazy Financial Services (EazyPay)
12. AMAN Holding
13. Paymob
14. Iraq Wallet For Payment (ZainCash Iraq)*
15. valU
16. Sarwa
17. HPS*
18. One Global *
19. Hala*
20. Telr
21. Ottu
22. MoneyFellows *
23. Tarabut Gateway
24. Lean Technologies*
25. PaySky*
26. Thndr *
27. UPayments
28. Dinarak *
29. VI Markets *
30. YAP *
Methodology
Forbes compiled the list by considering companies that are applying technology to financial sectors, including payments, insurance, digital banking, investing and wealth management, saving, and lending and personal financing. Forbes excluded Fintech operations owned by exchange houses, traditional banks, governments, and telecommunication companies.
Forbes gathered data through primary sources, statements, and questionnaires. It took into account:
• The amount of money executed through the digital channels in 2022.
• The number of app downloads and active users.
• The number of countries that the companies operate in.
• Growth over the past year.
• Examples of innovation in digital payments.
• Impact on consumers and businesses.
• Funding from venture capitalists and valuation.
