Riyadh – Mubasher: The region’s first open banking platform Tarabut Gateway has closed a $32 million Series A fundraise, which was led by Pinnacle Capital, a leading alternative investment company focusing on Saudi investments.
Leading Saudi investors and Aljazira Capital also took part in the funding round, along with Visa and Tiger Global, according to a press release.
The proceeds funded aim to endorse the platform's footprint in Saudi Arabia and mainly to focus on attracting top talent and foster strategic partnerships within the Saudi market.
Founder and CEO of Tarabut Gateway, Abdulla Almoayed, said: “Open banking is reshaping the financial landscape in KSA and the wider Middle East, and we, at Tarabut Gateway, are proud to be at the forefront of this innovation.”
In 2022, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) launched the first Open Finance Lab in the region that is powered by Tarabut Gateway. Almoayed said back then: “We are honoured to have been selected by DIFC as the platform partner for the region’s first Open Finance Lab.”
Regarding the $32 million investment, he elaborated: “This fundraise reflects the potential of open banking, our advanced technology, and the trust placed in us by our partners both in KSA and globally.”
Almoayed concluded: “Tarabut Gateway’s mission is to create an open financial services sector that delivers open banking benefits to MENA's consumers, banks, and fintechs - and the proceeds of this fundraise will help us execute our strategy and contribute to realising the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious vision 2030.”
Tarabut Gateway is building an open banking infrastructure across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain while having plans to further expand in the MENA region.
In 2020, Tarabut Gateway opened two offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Meanwhile, in an interview with Mubasher in 2019, Pakiza Abdulrahman, who was the Manager of Business Development for Startups at Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) back then, referred to the adoption of the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) to the regulations and signing-up with Tarabut Gateway.
In Saudi Arabia alone, Tarabut Gateway achieved more than 60% market coverage through partnerships with leading banks like Arab National Bank (ANB) and others. Last year, the platform announced four partnerships with the listed Saudi lenders Riyad Bank, Saudi British Bank (SABB), Alinma Bank, and Banque Saudi Fransi.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) included the platform as one of the first participants in its Regulatory Sandbox.
It is worth noting that Tarabut Gateway recently teamed up with Rain, the first regulated crypto assets trading platform in MENA to offer faster, cost-effective fiat-to-crypto transactions to Bahrain end-users.
