Egypt's Paymob raises $35M as GCC revenue jumps sevenfold

What's the deal? Egyptian payments infrastructure provider Paymob has raised $35 million in a pre-Series C funding round, bringing its total funding to roughly $125 million. The company will use the money to expand across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

What does Paymob do? Founded in 2015 by Alain El Hajj, Islam Shawky, and Mostafa El Menessy, Paymob helps merchants accept payments and manage finances through its payment gateway, POS terminals, SoftPOS, and payment links. The platform supports more than 60 payment methods and serves over 390,000 merchants across Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman.

Why now? The round follows $72 million in Series B funding raised across two tranches: $50 million in 2022 and a $22 million extension in 2024. The new proceeds will scale its digital payments acceptance business and fund new products for SME merchants and agentic commerce.

By the numbers: Over the past 18 months, Paymob's consolidated revenues tripled across its four markets, while GCC revenues grew sevenfold. Nearly half of total revenue now comes from GCC markets. Since securing its Retail Payment Services License from the Central Bank of the UAE in January 2025, it has onboarded roughly 20,000 merchants across its three GCC markets.

What's the endgame? "This Pre-Series C funding round will help us accelerate our growth plan across the MENA region and fast-track our product roadmap," said Islam Shawky, cofounder and chief executive officer of Paymob.

The signal: Paymob's raise lands in a cooling market. MENA startups raised $1.35 billion across 214 deals in the first half of 2026, with funding down 22% year-over-year as deal activity fell 41%, according to MAGNiTTDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Fintech alone drew $617 million across 57 deals, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia accounting for 85% of that total — a concentration that plays to Paymob's shift toward Gulf markets.

Image credit: Generated with Gemini