Paymob Raises $35M Pre-Series C for MENA Expansion

In Short

• Paymob has raised $35 million in a pre-Series C round.
• Mubadala and the EBRD co-led the raise.
• Paymob says it will use the funding to expand its payments business across the Middle East and North Africa.

What Happened

Paymob, an Egyptian payments infrastructure company, has closed a $35 million pre-Series C funding round.

A pre-Series C is a funding round that comes just before a Series C. It is usually used to extend runway, speed up growth, or prepare for a larger round.

The round was co-led by Mubadala, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth investor, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). British International Investment, Global Ventures, and DPI Ventures also participated.

Paymob’s total funding is now about $125 million. The company previously raised $72 million across two Series B rounds, a $50 million round in 2022 and a $22 million extension in 2024.

The company plans to put the new capital toward expansion across MENA. The Gulf is a key focus, and Paymob says revenue from the region has grown sevenfold.

Why It Matters

Payments infrastructure is the plumbing behind digital commerce. It includes the tools that let merchants accept card payments, wallets, bank transfers, and pay-by-link (a checkout URL you send to a customer).

For African fintechs, MENA expansion is often about finding larger merchant markets and more predictable unit economics. That means higher transaction volumes, stronger enterprise demand, and more room to layer on products like merchant lending and value-added services.

Paymob’s investor mix also matters. Mubadala brings regional networks, and the EBRD often backs companies that can scale with stronger governance and cross-border compliance. Both can be helpful when a payments provider is entering new markets with different regulations, acquiring banks, and settlement rules.

If Paymob can keep growing in the Gulf while defending its home market, it could become one of the stronger Egypt-based payment gateway and merchant acquiring plays competing for pan-MENA scale.