The Middle East’s Fintech 50 2025

Fintech companies in MENA have continued their growth trajectory over the last year, with 119 fintech startups raising $700 million in 2024, according to Wamda. This significant investment accounted for 30% of the total funding for MENA startups during the year, underscoring strong investor interest in the thriving sector. The Middle East’s Fintech 50 list features the top players that are revolutionizing the financial technology landscape in the underserved region, spanning digital payment companies, open banking platforms, investment, saving, and lending apps.

Leading Companies and Market Dominance

Payment solutions and buy-now, pay-later services remained the hottest space, with Saudi-based shopping and financial services app, Tabby, snatching $160 million in a Series E funding round in February 2025. This boosted its valuation to $3.3 billion, making it the region’s most valuable fintech startup, and bagging it the top spot in our Fintech 50 list 2025. Egyptian e-payment company Fawry comes in second, boosted by its 53.1 million customers, followed by Saudi fintech and Insurtech company Rasan, which went public on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) in 2024, with its market cap hitting nearly $1.9 billion on February 20, 2025.

Regional Representation and Newcomers

Our 2025 list features companies from 11 countries and 12 newcomers, including the digital assets platform CoinMENA, the U.A.E.’s Ziina, and Egypt’s Sahl. The U.A.E. is the most represented country on the list with 13 companies, followed by Egypt and Saudi Arabia with 12 and 10 companies, respectively.

Key performance data for the Fintech 50:

• Total Transactions Processed: Over $240 billion
• Total Funding Secured: More than $3.8 billion
• Top Most Represented Country: U.A.E. (13 companies)
• Most Valuable Fintech: Tabby ($3.3 billion valuation)

Methodology

We gathered data through primary sources, statements, and questionnaires. We considered companies that are applying technology to financial sectors, including payments, insurance, digital banking, investing and wealth management, savings, crypto, and lending and personal financing. We excluded fintech operations owned by exchange houses, traditional banks, and governments.

We took into account several key metrics:

• The amount of money executed through digital channels in 2024.
• The number of app downloads and active users.
• The number of countries that the companies operate in.
• Growth and expansion between February 2024 and February 2025.
• Examples of innovation in digital payments.
• Impact on consumers and businesses.
• Funding from venture capitalists and valuation.

Disclaimer: All data given was provided by the companies. Forbes Middle East holds no responsibility for any investment decisions.