HALA raised $157 million Series B led by TPG and Sanabil
HALA raised $157 million in a September 2025 Series B led by TPG and Sanabil. Forbes now puts 2025 transactions at $6.6 billion, below the raise-day figure.
HALA raised $157 million on September 15, 2025, in a Series B that TPG's release says was led by The Rise Fund and Sanabil Investments. That release said HALA served over 140,000 businesses and processed more than $8 billion of annual transactions. Forbes Middle East's Fintech 50 entry, published October 8, 2026 from company-supplied figures, puts 2025 throughput at $6.6 billion, with active businesses still over 140,000 as of December 2025.
Those volume figures are not interchangeable, so the larger one should not be treated as the year's result, and the merchant count was not restated above that same band. The use of proceeds matches a deal already on the acquirer side of embedded finance: Stripe's agreed purchase of Parafin is a bid to own the credit decision on payment data. HALA asked the co-leads to fund that layer in-house.
What the release actually says
The issuer is HALA Holding, described as a Saudi provider of embedded financial services for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The company note calls the operating business Hala Payments, co-founded by Esam Alnahdi, chairman, and Maher Loubieh, group chief executive. Forbes lists an establishment year of 2017. The release does not give one.
TPG called the round one of the largest fintech Series B financings in the Middle East, and The Rise Funds' first investment in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. Sanabil, described as wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), co-led with The Rise Fund. Also named were QED, Raed Ventures, Impact 46, Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), Isometry Capital, Arzan VC, BNVT Capital, Kaltaire Investments, Endeavor Catalyst, Nour Nouf Ventures, Khwarizmi Ventures, and Wamda Capital.
Proceeds were to deepen the Saudi business, add embedded services and lending products for MSMEs and freelancers, and expand regionally. Products named that day included business accounts, card issuance, payments, transfers, point-of-sale (POS) tools, financing, and corporate cards. The release states no valuation and does not split the $157 million between equity and debt. Forbes also dates the round to September 2025, not 2026.
Where the two figures split
Forbes's list methodology says companies supplied the figures, including 2025 digital volumes. The $6.6 billion is HALA's later number, not an audit. The profile gives no loan-book size for the lending business it says launched in 2025, and it adds payroll, expense management, and bill payment, none of which the September release named.
A lending license, then a round
On May 15, 2024, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) licensed "Hala Financing" for debt-based crowdfunding, taking authorized firms in that activity to 11 and finance companies licensed or permitted to 62, counts from that day only. The release does not tie HALA Holding to that legal name. What is on the record is the May 2024 license, lending named as a use of the September 2025 proceeds, and Forbes saying HALA launched lending in 2025. SAMA has published no comment on the Series B in the sources checked here.
"This landmark investment is a turning point for HALA, reflecting on our relentless pursuit of innovation and excellence in serving small businesses," Esam Alnahdi, co-founder and chairman at HALA, said in the TPG release.
A Sanabil spokesperson said the firm was "excited to lead this landmark Series B funding round for HALA," while the lead sentence says The Rise Fund and Sanabil led it together.
What rivals disclosed instead
Tabby and Foodics are not quoted on the round. Tabby, first on the same list for a second year, reported over $18 billion in annualized transaction volume and a $6.5 billion valuation. In September 2026 it raised $233 million in a Series F, a round Industry Spread has already covered. Tabby's Saudi entity reported $55 million of net profit in 2025, up 82% from 2024, and in June 2026 it secured consumer-finance and SME-finance licenses from SAMA.
Foodics, ranked seventh, reported $12 billion of 2025 gross merchandise value, up 20% from 2024, across more than 40,000 branches. That line is not HALA's transactions figure. Forbes, citing Wamda, says regional fintech drew $708 million across 51 rounds in the first half of 2026, about $13.9 million a round if divided straight through. HALA's $157 million is a different size of bet. finmid's Bolt and Skroutz lending raise is the European version of funding credit from payment flow.
What would change the reading
Until HALA publishes a loan book, an approval rate, or a loss figure, the Series B stays a payments round with a credit option attached. The May 2024 license and the 2025 launch are not a portfolio, and the October 2026 profile adds no country count for the expansion the release promised. The next credit metric will be read against Tabby's June 2026 SME-finance license, not against another "over 140,000" line.
Reporting by Rick Steves. Filed 12 October 2026, 07:14 GMT.
Senior Reporter, Regulation and Fintech
Rick Steves has seen business and economics through many lenses. He joined the financial services industry in 2009, and has been a financial journalist since 2011.
