barq, a Riyadh-based digital payments and money transfer company, has closed a Series A round of $329.5m at a valuation of $1.85bn, Wamda reported on 15 September 2026, citing the company's announcement.
Arab News put the round at SR1.24bn ($329.5m). Noon Investments, Sohar International Bank and M20 Fund took part. No lead investor was named, and neither report gave a total raised to date or details of earlier funding.
The valuation places barq among Saudi Arabia's fintech companies valued at more than $1bn, around two years after it launched its services to users.
What barq does
barq is licensed by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) and offers digital payments, money transfers and other financial services through its mobile app. Wamda reported that it was founded in 2023.
The company says it has more than 15 million users from over 210 nationalities, and that more than SAR440bn (about $117.3bn) has passed through its platform since launch.
barq has been expanding beyond domestic payments. Earlier this year it partnered with Alipay+ to let users make cross-border QR payments at supported merchants in more than 220 markets. Arab News reported that the funding news came alongside partnerships announced at Money20/20 Middle East with companies including Mastercard, UnionPay International and Geidea.
Who runs the company
barq is led by its founder and chief executive, Ahmed Alenazi, who previously served as chief executive of stc pay, another Saudi digital payments company.
The company did not disclose its headcount or revenue. The Paypers reported that barq described reaching its valuation within two years as one of the fastest paces recorded in fintech globally; that claim comes from the company and was not independently checked.
Reports differ slightly on the company's age. Wamda gave 2023 as its founding year, while The Paypers dated its launch to 2024, which fits the company's own account of reaching 15 million users within two years.
What the money is for
barq said the Series A would fund its next phase of growth. It plans to improve operational efficiency, speed up development of products and services, invest in new financial and technology products, and enter more regional and international markets.
Investors in the round include Noon Investments, Sohar International Bank and M20 Fund. The size of each investor's stake was not disclosed.
The deal drew comment from government. Abdullah Al-Swaha, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, wrote on X that "we have grown accustomed to witnessing Saudi success stories", Arab News reported.
The round adds to a run of large Saudi fintech deals. Arab News noted that Ninja, an earlier Saudi company to pass that mark, reached a $1.5bn valuation in July 2025. Abdalla Elsayed, an economic researcher at City St George's, University of London, told Arab News the deal was "a clear signal that Saudi Arabia's fintech ecosystem is entering a deeper scale-up phase".