Bahrain’s fintech stars shine on Forbes' Middle East Fintech 50

TDT | Manama

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Four Bahraini companies have secured spots on the Middle East’s Fintech 50 list for 2025, released by Forbes, highlighting the kingdom’s growing influence in the financial technology sector.

The list features companies from 11 countries, with 12 new entrants, including Bahrain-based Tarabut, Eazypay. com, CoinMENA, and Rain. The 50 ranked companies have collectively processed over $240 billion in transactions and secured more than $3.8 billion in total funding.

Bahrain’s Fintech Leaders

• T a r a b u t (Ranked 25) – An open banking and embedded finance platform operating in the U.A.E., Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. In September 2024, it acquired Vyne, a London-based real-time account-to-account (A2A) payments platform. Founded by Abdulla Almoayed in 2018, the company reported a 4.5x year-on-year revenue growth in 2024.

• Eazypay.com (Ranked 26) – A payment services provider with a partnership with Binance, allowing cryptocurrency payments. It processed $4.2 billion in transactions in Bahrain in 2024 and operates in Bahrain and Switzerland, with plans to expand into the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Europe. Founded by Nayef Al Alawi in 2016, Eazypay.com was valued at $300 million as of February 2025.

• Coin MENA (Ranked 29) – A cryptocurrency platform founded by Talal Tabbaa and Dina Sam’an in 2021, allowing users to buy, sell, and store digital assets. Licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain and Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, CoinMENA operates in 45 countries, including all GCC markets. By the end of 2024, it reported a 430% year-on-year increase in trading volume and surpassed $2 billion in fiat-to-crypto transactions.

• Rain (Ranked 32) – A virtual assets platform operating in Bahrain, the U.A.E., and Türkiye, offering over 50 cryptocurrencies. It has processed over $8.3 billion in trading volume since 2019 and had 1.5 million signups as of 2024. Founded in 2017 by Abdullah Almoaiqel, Yehia Badawy, Adam Nelson, and Joseph Dallago, Rain is applying for a local license in Türkiye.

Fintech Trends in the Middle East

Payment solutions and buynow, pay-later (BNPL) services continue to dominate the region. Tabby, a Saudi-based shopping and financial services app, secured $160 million in a Series E funding round in February 2025, boosting its valuation to $3.3 billion, making it the region’s most valuable fintech startup and earning it the top spot on the Fintech 50 list.

Following Tabby, Egyptian e-payment giant Fawry ranked second, boasting 53.1 million customers, while Saudi Insurtech and banking solutions firm Rasan placed third after going public on Tadawul in 2024, reaching a market cap of $1.9 billion by February 2025.

With four Bahraini companies making the Forbes Fintech 50 list, the kingdom continues to strengthen its position as a key fintech hub in the region.