Saudi Arabia has a new billion-dollar startup.
Riyadh-based payments company barq has raised $329.5 million, and investors now value the whole company at $1.85 billion. That makes it a unicorn, the term for a privately owned startup worth $1 billion or more, and the Kingdom’s newest one. The last Saudi company to cross that line was the quick-commerce firm Ninja, which reached $1.5 billion in July 2025.
The money came from Noon Investments, Sohar International Bank and M20 Fund. barq announced the round alongside Money20/20 Middle East, the fintech conference held in Riyadh.
What barq Does
barq is a mobile app for everyday money. Users get a digital account and a card, and can pay, transfer money and send funds abroad. It’s licensed by the Saudi Central Bank and operates through a regulated company called Buraq Financial.
It was founded in 2023 by Ahmed Alenazi, who previously ran stc pay, one of Saudi Arabia’s best-known digital wallets. So he isn’t a first-time founder, which goes some way to explaining how quickly investors got comfortable with the company.
How Fast It Has Grown
barq says it has passed 15 million users from more than 210 nationalities in about two years. It also says more than SAR 440 billion, roughly $117 billion, has moved through its platform since launch.
Those are the company’s own figures, but the direction is clear from its earlier updates. At its last milestone announcement, barq reported more than 10 million users, 9.5 million cards issued and around SAR 150 billion processed.
Why the Size of This Round Stands Out
This was barq’s Series A. In startup funding, rounds are labelled with letters roughly in order, and a Series A is usually a company’s first major raise from institutional investors. Most Series A rounds are a fraction of $329.5 million.
Wamda notes that the valuation makes barq one of the region’s faster fintech companies to cross the billion-dollar mark after launch. It’s also the first time barq has disclosed any funding figures since it came out of stealth.
What the Money Is For
barq says it will use the funding to improve efficiency, build new products, and expand into more regional and international markets.
It’s already been building toward cross-border payments. barq partnered with Western Union for international transfers, and in May 2026 it added Alipay+, which lets users pay by QR code at merchants in more than 220 markets worldwide.
The Bigger Picture
barq’s rise sits on top of Saudi Arabia’s push to cut reliance on cash under Vision 2030, the Kingdom’s economic diversification plan. Communications Minister Abdullah Al-Swaha described barq as another homegrown success story.
Abdalla Elsayed, an economic researcher at City St George’s, University of London, told Arab News the round signals that Saudi Arabia’s fintech sector is entering a deeper scale-up phase, pointing to fast digital payment adoption and a young, highly connected population.
