AFS Funding, Investors & Competitors

AFS has raised $148M across 2 funding rounds, most recently a $50M undisclosed-stage round in October 2024.

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Last AFS funding round

$50M

Undisclosed stage · Oct 2024

Cumulative funding AFS raised

$148M

across 2 funding rounds

AFS Overview

About AFS

AFS is a Bahrain-based financial services provider offering secure payment processing powered by IBM mainframe technology with redundant storage and an offshore disaster recovery center. The company delivers BPay, a mobile digital wallet app enabling smartphone-based transactions for individuals, businesses, and corporations across retail and commerce sectors. AFS supports seamless fund transfers, bill payments, and peer-to-peer remittances in the Middle East region.


Founded

1984

HQ

UAEManama

Website

afs.com.bh

Status

Privately held

Customer focus

B2B & B2C

Revenue model

Subscription

AFS Funding History

AFS has raised a total of $148M across 2 funding rounds.

AFS's first fundraising round was a $98M undisclosed-stage round in December 2021. The most recent completed round was a $50M undisclosed-stage round in October 2024.

AFS funding rounds

AFS funding rounds
DateStageRaisedDeal Summary
Oct 2024Undisclosed stage$50MArab Financial Services (AFS), a Bahrain-headquartered digital payments solutions provider and FinTech enabler operating in the Middle East and Africa, secured a $50 million capital injection in October 2024. The funding was endorsed by AFS shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting earlier in the year and ranked among the top funding rounds in the MENAPT region for that month. AFS, founded in 1984, offers services including merchant and fintech acquiring, debit, credit, and Islamic card processing, and is regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain and the Central Bank of Egypt. It maintains offices and data centers in the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, and Oman. The capital aims to strengthen AFS's financial position and support expansion strategies, including territorial growth, scaling operations in existing markets, and leveraging its Payment Services Provider license in Egypt to boost acquiring activities. In the UAE, AFS is progressing toward launching merchant acquiring services, while also targeting African markets to grow its processing business. This follows notable progress in 2023, such as expanded client base, completed migrations, and the launch of its Wallets-as-a-Service solution. Recent partnerships include powering ila Bank's prepaid Bahraini-denominated card offering. The October 2024 MENAPT VC funding totaled $690.1 million across 79 deals, with AFS's round marking the first time a Bahraini company appeared in the region's top 5 funding rounds, amid a trend of larger bets on fewer, high-growth startups.
Dec 2021Undisclosed stage$98M-

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AFS Competitors

AFS competitors include listed companies like Corpay and BILL.com, and private ones like Jeeves, Tide, Ramp and JD Digits.

Public and private companies comparable to AFS
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
JeevesUnited StatesMiami, FLPrivate$40M-$2.1B52.5x
TideUnited KingdomLondonPrivate$225M-$1.5B6.7x
RampUnited StatesNew York City, NYPrivate$1.4B-$44B31.4x
CorpayUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$4.5B$2.4B$27B6.8x
JD DigitsChinaBeijingPrivate--$18B-
BILL.comUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$1.7B$34M$4.1B2.4x

AFS Public Comps

AFS is still privately-owned, but its public comps include SAP, Shopify, MercadoLibre, Intuit, Workday, Block, PayPal, Adyen, Corpay and Global Payments.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
SAP$42B$13B5.8x5.4x18.4x17.1x
Shopify$12B$1.2B13.9x11.3x132.9x61.9x
MercadoLibre$29B$3.7B3.5x2.6x27.2x25.1x
Intuit$21B$6.9B4.0x3.9x12.2x9.1x
Workday$9.6B$1.2B5.1x4.7x42.0x14.2x
Block$24B$2.2B1.7x1.6x18.6x9.4x
PayPal$33B$7.2B1.4x1.4x6.6x6.9x
Adyen$3B$1.4B6.5x6.3x13.7x11.9x

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Common questions about AFS

When was AFS founded?AFS was founded in 1984.
Where is AFS headquartered?AFS is headquartered in Manama, UAE.
Is AFS publicly listed?No, AFS is a private company.
How much funding has AFS raised?AFS has raised $148M across 2 funding rounds.
What was AFS's last funding round?AFS's last funding round was a $50M undisclosed-stage round in October 2024.
Which companies are comparable to AFS?Companies comparable to AFS include Jeeves, Tide, Ramp, Corpay, JD Digits and BILL.com.

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