Participated · Series C · Dec 2023

Tamara is Saudi Arabia’s first homegrown fintech unicorn, providing buy now pay later (BNPL) services and other payment solutions. Founded in 2020 by Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah, and Abdulmohsen Albabtain, the company enables consumers to split purchases while merchants receive immediate payment. The platform has amassed more than 20 million customers and is integrated with over 87,000 merchants across the region. Management intends to leverage this scale to build a "customer-centric financial super-app," adding new credit and payment products in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030. Tamara finances its lending through large asset-backed facilities and earns revenue from merchant fees and consumer charges. In December 2023, it closed a $340 million Series C round at a valuation above $1 billion. The newly announced $2.4 billion facility materially increases the company’s lending capacity and supports its regional expansion plans.

Participated · Series B · Sep 2020

Thunes operates a Direct Global Network that spans 130+ countries, supports 80+ currencies and maintains 550+ direct integrations to enable real-time cross-border payments. The company focuses on making traditional, digital and emerging currencies interoperable through its payments infrastructure and technology stack. Thunes emphasizes compliance, scalability and a seamless customer experience to reach businesses and end users across complex markets. Management states a Revenue run-rate of $150 million and reports positive EBITDA, and the business is now profitable while maintaining strong growth momentum. Planned uses of capital include U.S. expansion (leveraging recently acquired licenses across 50 U.S. states, subject to regulatory approval), strengthening the Direct Global Network, and advancing technology from AI to digital-asset interoperability. Thunes aims to extend access to the "next billion" end users in emerging markets and capture a growing share of the large cross-border payments opportunity. Thunes is a global B2B payment infrastructure platform that powers cross-border payments for businesses and consumers through a single, simple connection. It supports 80 currencies, enables payments to 132 countries, and accepts 300 payment methods. Customers include Uber, Deliveroo, Grab, PayPal, Remitly, Finastra and Revolut. Thunes offers send-to-wallet capabilities via an API integration with Visa Direct and connects to 78 digital wallet providers globally. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Singapore with regional offices in London, Paris, Shanghai, Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Miami and Nairobi, the company acquired a controlling stake in Tookitaki in April 2022 to strengthen AML and compliance. Thunes says it will use investor support to expand its network, deepen collaboration with Visa, and develop next-generation cross-border payment solutions that are secure, instant and transparent. Thunes is a Singapore-based fintech startup. The article reports the company has raised over $60 million. The coverage does not provide details on Thunes' core product, business model, or operating metrics. The reporting confirms earlier coverage by DealStreetAsia. The article does not disclose investors, the financing instrument, valuation, or use of proceeds. No future plans or guidance were included in the article. Thunes is a global cross-border payments firm that provides cross-border payment services. The company disclosed that global hedge fund Marshall Wace invested US$30 million in its Series C via a filing to Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). Deal Street Asia reported Thunes may raise an additional up to US$30 million for this tranche, but Thunes did not disclose the total round size or other participants in a statement to PYMNTS on March 24. The financing is described as part of a Series C funding round; the article does not disclose other instrument types. Previously, in May 2021 Thunes raised US$60 million in a Series B, which brought the company’s total funding to US$130 million in less than two years. Since then Thunes has acquired Paris-based Limonetik and AML and compliance technology firm Tookitaki. Thunes builds APIs and a cross-border payments network that connects banks, digital wallets and mobile money providers to enable interoperable payments across emerging markets. The company launched in 2019 after a split from TransferTo and is headquartered in Singapore with offices in London, Shanghai, New York, Dubai and Nairobi. Thunes now operates in about 100 countries (up from 40 at its 2019 Series A) and serves clients including MoneyGram, Western Union, Remitly, VIA, Grab and the National Bank of Dubai. It charges fixed transaction fees of roughly $0.02 to $2 and small FX markups, operating on small margins, high volumes and high frequency. Planned uses of new funding include expanding operations across Africa, Asia and Latin America, hiring teams in markets like Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, and product development to enable more collections and digital bank account pilots in Indonesia.