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MUHANNAD EBWINI
38
DREAMING BIG
Fresh from securing $36.7 million in new funding, Muhannad Ebwini, Founder and CEO of Saudi’s HyperPay, is now looking at regional expansion. New products and a potential IPO are on the horizon. In June 2022, Saudi Arabia-based payment gateway HyperPay confirmed its latest round of funding. Led by Mastercard, with participation from Amwal Capital Partners and AB Ventures, the deal saw HyperPay secure $36.7 million to fund its expansion, bringing its total funding raised to $55 million. For the founder and CEO, Muhannad Ebwini, this is just the beginning. “Our plan is to go public through an IPO in two years in Saudi Arabia,” he says with confidence. Established in 2015, HyperPay provides ecommerce businesses with a range of online payment solutions, including merchant cash advances, B2B systems, card issuing, and open banking. Recent years have witnessed impressive growth. In 2021, it executed 112 million transactions worth a total of $4.7 billion, compared to 79 million transactions totaling $2.4 billion in 2020. Headquartered in Riyadh, the company also has offices in Jordan and the U.A.E. The new funding is earmarked to help the company expand into Egypt, Bahrain, Iraq, and Oman, as well as take it public. “We were looking for strategic investors, not cash investors,” explains Ebwini. “We were looking for someone who can help us in the products side and has the know-how and support in the market.” As part of the deal, Mastercard will provide more products to HyperPay, while the latter will
help the digital payment giant to distribute and push these products among banks, merchants, and across a variety of different sectors in the market. Meanwhile, private equity fund Amwal Capital specializes in taking companies public, so will help HyperPay prepare its financials in readiness for its planned IPO. And AB Ventures, the VC arm of Arab BLC Bank, will support HyperPay’s geographical expansion plans to countries like Algeria, Tunisia, and Palestine. “We recognize the crucial role Fintechs are playing in our world’s rapid digital transformation,” says Adam Jones, Country General Manager for MENA Central at Mastercard. “Growing the payments ecosystem is crucial for the development of a robust digital economy that is more inclusive for all. Our partnership with HyperPay is meant to power the use of new technologies, grow digital commerce across the region, and bring practical innovation to millions of consumers.” Jordanian entrepreneur Ebwini is no stranger to startup building and scaling. He began his career in 2001 at Maktoob.com, which was the first successful webmail service with Arabiclanguage support. Founded in Jordan in 1999 by Hussam Khoury and Samih Toukan, it was also a breeding ground for entrepreneurial talent. Joining the company as a sales and marketing executive, Ebwini found himself working
BY LAYAN ABO SHKIER F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M
AUGUST 2022
