The inaugural MENA Fintech Awards organised by the MENA Fintech Association (MFTA) came to a close on 15 November with an awards ceremony hosted by the Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW).
The awards, organised in partnership with consulting firm Grant Thornton, honours the best and leading startups in the fintech industry across the Middle East and North Africa.
Founded in 2018, the MFTA is a not-for-profit group established to represent and offer a regional voice for the growing number of fintech firms in the MENA region.
This is the first edition of both the MENA Fintech Awards and Abu Dhabi Finance Week, with the awards being one of 30 events held during the ADFW hosted by the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).
The awards featured seven categories with three finalists in each category. The winners were announced at an awards ceremony on the main stage at the ADGM Atrium during the ADFW.
MENA Fintech Awards 2022 Winners
Best Payments Fintech: Paymob (Egypt)
Paymob is a payments infrastructure company based in Cairo. Its digital payments platform enables transactions for technology companies such as Swvl, Uber and Grubhub.
The company recently partnered with BNPL shopping app and Best Fintech Onboarding award winner Tabby to enable its buy now pay later (BNPL) payment solutions in Egypt.
Founded in 2015, Paymob last raised a US$50 million Series B in May 2022 led by Kora Capital, PayPal Ventures and Clay Point — one of the largest corporate venture funding rounds this year.
Best Wallet: e& (UAE)
e&, formerly known as the Etisalat Group, is a telecommunications company operating in 16 countries. The group’s eWallet and fintech arm rebranded to be known as e& money in February 2022.
e& money’s services currently include a digital wallet, local and international money transfers, bill and parking payments, prepaid card top ups, as well as business accounts and payment solutions.
The company aims to become a “financial super app” which provides a wide range of financial services such as lending, investments, network branded cards and insurance services.
Best Neo Bank: Wio Bank (UAE)
Wio Bank launched its digital banking app for startups, freelancers and SMEs in September 2022. Its Mambu-enabled services include features such as expense management, invoicing and payments.
The company also announced during the ADFW that it has partnered with the ADGM to offer SMEs in the financial centre digital banking services.
The company is backed by big names such as Faisal Al Hammadi, head of ADQ-backed US$200 million fund Further Ventures, who sits on its board.
Best Digital Lending Platform: Tamara (Saudi Arabia)
Tamara is a Riyadh-based buy now pay later (BNPL) platform which allows shoppers to split their payments online and in-store into instalments with no interest.
Tamara last raised a US$100 million Series B funding round led by Sanabil Investments in August 2022 and is said to have three million customers, 4,000 partners merchants, and 200 employees.
The company’s US$110 million Series A round in 2021 led by UK payments company Checkout.com is one of the largest funding rounds in the MENA region to date.
Best Fintech Enabler: M2P Fintech (UAE)
M2P is an technology company for the financial sector which provides banks, financial companies and online businesses with payments, lending and banking solutions.
The company’s clients in the MENA region include Canadian payments service provider Buckzy which enables businesses to make cross-border payments to the US and Europe.
M2P was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Chennai, India with a regional office in Abu Dhabi. The company is said to currently have over 500 fintech and 30 banking clients.
Best Fintech Onboarding: Tabby (UAE)
Tabby is a Riyadh-based buy now pay later (BNPL) app operating in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt with over two million active users and 5,000 merchant partners.
The company last closed a US$150 million debt financing round led by Atalaya Capital Management in August 2022, bringing its total funding raised so far to US$275 million.
Tabby was also named a LinkedIn top five fintech startups in the Middle East and was one of six fintech startups in the region which made CB Insights’ Fintech 250 list in 2022.
Best Fintech of the Year: YAP (UAE)
Dubai-based digital banking app YAP was named the Best Fintech of the Year at the MENA Fintech Awards 2022. The company is said to have onboarded 130,000 users since launching in March 2021.
YAP’s platform provides services such as spending and budgeting analytics, peer-to-peer payments, remittance services, and bill payments. Its banking services are enabled by RAKBANK.
YAP last raised a US$41 million Series A in mid-2022 led by Aljazira Capital and formed a partnership with Bank AlJazira to launch its consumer and business banking platforms in Saudi Arabia.
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