Hala
“Can a SAMA-licensed EMI become the default bank for Saudi Arabia's MSMEs and freelancers under Vision 2030?”
Founded2017
HQRiyadh, Saudi Arabia
Total raised~$163.5M
Latest roundSeries B, 2025
Valuation~$900M (2025)
IndustryFintech / SMB banking
The story
Founded in 2017 as Halalah, Hala began as a digital mobile payments platform for Saudi merchants and rebranded as Hala. Operating as a SAMA-licensed Electronic Money Institution, it has expanded well beyond payments into a full embedded-finance stack for MSMEs and freelancers — IBAN business accounts, Visa/mada cards, POS hardware, expense management, payroll, and SME financing. The $157M Series B in 2025 — one of the MENA region's largest fintech rounds — positions Hala to scale into being the 'future bank for SMEs' in Saudi Arabia under Vision 2030.
Product timeline
2017
Founded as Halalah, a digital mobile payments platform in Saudi Arabia· founding
2021
Raised $6.5M Series A led by Impact 46· funding
2025
Raised $157M Series B co-led by TPG Rise Fund and Sanabil Investments at ~$900M valuation· funding
2025
Expanded suite of MSME banking services: IBAN accounts, Visa/mada cards, POS, expense management, payroll, financing· banking
Regulated entities
EMI (Electronic Money Institution)
Saudi Arabia (SAMA)
Hala Payments Company
The stack
Payments / PSP
Hala Payments (self-operated, SAMA-licensed EMI)POS device acquiring (in-house)mPOS / SoftPOS (in-house)
Banking / BaaS
Card issuing
Lending
Payroll
Accounting gap: significant