The story of Tamara: how Tamara turned the grocery ledger into a Saudi unicorn

Full film transcript

Before apps and cards, every grocery store in Saudi Arabia had a ledger.

You take what you want, the owner writes down your name, and you pay at the end of the month.

That ledger became a billion-dollar company. Its name is Tamara.

Its founder, Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, worked at the central bank, and left after less than six months.

He founded a delivery company, which Nana acquired, and he became its CFO.

And there he noticed something: the grocery store gives people credit that banks don't.

And at the time, only about 15 percent of people in Saudi Arabia used credit cards. And many paid cash on delivery.

So he teamed up with his childhood friend, Turki Bin Zarah, and Abdulmohsen Albabtain joined them.

And in September 2020, Tamara launched from Riyadh, with seven part-time employees.

The idea is simple: buy now, and split the amount into installments, with no interest.

And the merchant is the one who pays the commission, because he sells more.

The same year, Tamara and Tabby entered the central bank's sandbox. And the race began.

Investors didn't wait. The first round: $6 million.

Then $110 million, led by Checkout.com.

And in December 2023: $340 million, led by SNB Capital and Sanabil.

At a $1 billion valuation. And Tamara became a unicorn.

Today, Tamara says it has more than 25 million customers and more than 130,000 merchants.

And in 2025, it made its first full annual profit in Saudi Arabia.

So an old idea, from the grocery ledger, became a unicorn.

The lesson for you as a founder: you don't have to invent something new. Sometimes, an old idea with a new tool is enough.

Follow us at Saudi Founders.

Detailed figures and sources are in the Tamara profile in the directory.