Paymob
Omnichannel payments acceptance and payouts platform for businesses across MENA and selected African markets.
Website: https://paymob.com
Cover Block
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Paymob |
| Tagline | Omnichannel payments acceptance and payouts platform for businesses across MENA and selected African markets. |
| Headquarters | Cairo, Egypt |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Stage | Series B |
| Business Model | B2B |
| Industry | Fintech |
| Technology | Software (Non-AI) |
| Geography | Middle East / North Africa |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding Team | Co-Founders (3+) |
| Funding Label | $50M+ (total disclosed ~$90.5M) |
Links
- Website: https://paymob.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/paymobcompany
What an Investor Needs First
Paymob has established itself as a central payments infrastructure layer for small and medium businesses across the Middle East and North Africa. Founded in 2015 by three college friends, the company provides an omnichannel platform that enables merchants to accept over 40 payment methods, from cards and mobile wallets to QR codes and buy-now-pay-later options, both online and in physical stores [Paymob Documentation]. Its wedge is deep localization, integrating with local bank and telco rails to serve a merchant base that now exceeds 350,000 across Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Pakistan [TechCrunch, September 2024]. The founding team, led by CEO Islam Shawky, leveraged their shared academic background and regional insight to build a solution tailored to the cash-heavy, method-diverse realities of MENA commerce.
The business model is B2B, serving merchants directly and often through partnerships with larger enterprises and financial institutions. Paymob has raised over $90 million in total funding, including a $50 million Series B in 2022 led by PayPal Ventures and a $22 million extension in 2024 led by the EBRD Venture Capital Investment Programme [Crunchbase, May 2022] [TechCrunch, September 2024]. This capital has fueled both geographic expansion and a path to operational profitability, which the company has already achieved in its home market of Egypt [TechCrunch, September 2024].
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by multiple independent sources including TechCrunch, Crunchbase, and company documentation.
Inside the Company
Paymob was founded in 2015 in Cairo by three college friends, Islam Shawky, Alain El Hajj, and Mostafa Menessy [TechCrunch, September 2024]. The company operates as a B2B fintech infrastructure provider, maintaining its headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, and has expanded its operational footprint to include the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Pakistan [Paymob Documentation].
Its growth trajectory is marked by a series of capital raises aimed at scaling its omnichannel platform. A $50 million Series B round in May 2022, led by PayPal Ventures and Kora Capital, provided the fuel for significant regional expansion [Crunchbase, May 2022]. This was followed by a $22 million Series B extension in August 2024, led by the EBRD Venture Capital Investment Programme, bringing the total disclosed capital raised to over $90 million [TechCrunch, September 2024].
Key operational milestones reflect the scale of its execution. The company reported serving over 250,000 businesses in 2024, a figure that grew to approximately 390,000 by early 2025 [Forbes Middle East, 2025]. It also achieved a notable operational benchmark by reaching profitability in its home market of Egypt [TechCrunch, September 2024].
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by Crunchbase, TechCrunch, and company documentation.
Under the Hood
Paymob’s core proposition is a unified platform for accepting and disbursing payments, a critical piece of infrastructure for businesses operating in the fragmented financial landscapes of the Middle East and North Africa. The company’s public documentation describes an omnichannel system that consolidates online and in-store transactions, payouts, and financial management tools into a single gateway [Paymob Documentation].
The platform’s technical wedge is its breadth of supported payment methods, which the company claims exceeds 50 options [Forbes Middle East, 2025]. This includes global card networks, regional mobile wallets, buy-now-pay-later services, and QR-based payments [Paymob Documentation]. For online commerce, Paymob provides a payment gateway, customizable payment links, and subscription management tools. For physical retail, it supplies traditional point-of-sale (POS) terminals and a softPOS solution that allows smartphones to accept contactless payments without dedicated hardware [Paymob Documentation].
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Product features and merchant counts are confirmed by company documentation and multiple press reports.
Market Research
The digital payments infrastructure market in the Middle East and North Africa is a foundational bet on the region's continued shift away from cash, driven by a combination of government mandates, demographic change, and rising merchant digitization.
Paymob's primary operating markets include Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Pakistan [TechCrunch, September 2024]. The value of digital payments transactions across the Middle East and Africa is projected to reach $3.5 trillion by 2027, representing a compound annual growth rate of approximately 15% from 2022, according to an industry report by McKinsey [McKinsey]. Demand drivers are multifaceted. Regulatory pushes for financial inclusion and digital economies, such as Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and Egypt's Vision 2030, create a supportive policy environment. A young, tech-savvy population is accelerating adoption of digital wallets and e-commerce. The post-pandemic acceleration of online commerce and the formalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have created a large, underserved merchant base seeking consolidated payment solutions.
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing and growth projections are drawn from analogous third-party industry reports; specific TAM/SAM/SOM for Paymob's exact merchant segment is not publicly detailed by the company.
Competition and Substitutes
Paymob's position is defined by its deep localization in MENA's fragmented payment rails, a wedge that global giants often approach with a more standardized product set [TechCrunch, September 2024].
| Company | Positioning | Stage / Funding | Notable Differentiator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paymob | Omnichannel payments & payouts platform for MENA SMEs/enterprises | Series B (~$90.5M total) | Localization depth: 50+ payment methods, including regional wallets, BNPL, and QR; profitable in Egypt. |
| Fawry | Digital payments network and banking services in Egypt | Publicly listed on EGX | Dominant agent network and bill payment infrastructure in Egypt; strong brand recognition for cash digitization. |
| PayTabs | Online payment gateway for the Arab region | Venture-backed | Focus on Arabic-language e-commerce plugins and SME onboarding; strong presence in Saudi Arabia and UAE. |
| Stripe | Global payments infrastructure for the internet | Private (~$65B valuation) | Developer-first global API, extensive third-party ecosystem, and sophisticated revenue management tools. |
| Amazon Payment Services | Payment gateway for the MENA region | Corporate division | Deep integration with Amazon's merchant services and AWS; leverages Amazon's regional logistics and trust. |
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor profiles and funding stages are compiled from public sources and company websites; specific differentiators for regional players are inferred from market positioning.
Opportunity
The size of the prize for a regional payments orchestrator that can successfully digitize cash-heavy economies and consolidate merchant financial services is measured in the billions of dollars of payment volume and platform revenue.
The headline opportunity is for Paymob to become the default payments infrastructure for the small and medium business economy across the Middle East and North Africa. This outcome is reachable because the company has already established a profitable, scaled footprint in its home market of Egypt, serving over 350,000 merchants across five countries [TechCrunch, September 2024].
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Core opportunity metrics (merchant count, user count, profitability, funding) confirmed by TechCrunch and Forbes Middle East.
Sources
- [TechCrunch, September 2024] Paymob, started by three college friends, lands another $22M and is profitable in Egypt | https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/11/paymob-lands-another-22-million-and-is-profitable-in-egypt/
- [Paymob Documentation] Paymob Documentation | https://developers.paymob.com/paymob-docs/getting-started/overview
- [Crunchbase, May 2022] Series B - Paymob - Crunchbase Funding Round Profile | https://www.crunchbase.com/funding_round/paymob-series-b--359a7a60
Articles about Paymob
- Paymob's $72 Million Series B Profits in Egypt, Chases the Rest of MENA — The Cairo-based fintech, serving 390,000 merchants, turned profitable in its home market before raising a $22 million extension from the EBRD.