EGYPT – Cairo-based fintech Khazna has secured US$38 million in a debt and equity series A funding round to accelerate expansion in Egypt.
The equity investment was led by Quona Capital with the participation of Speedinvest, Nclude, Khawarizmi Ventures, Algebra Ventures, Accion Venture Lab, Disruptech, AB Accelerator by Arab Bank, and CVentures, among others.
The debt financing was provided by Lendable. Omar Selah, Ahmed Wagueeh, Fatimah El Shenawy, and Omar Salah formed the company in 2019 to provide basic banking and financial services to moderate and lower-income people.
The startup will use the funding to ramp up its efforts to replace informal cash-driven alternatives across Egypt, pairing a digital native solution with an innovative business model.
Launched in 2020, Khazna offers easy-to-use, technology-driven financial services to Egypt’s underserved consumers and micro-businesses.
The startup’s super app caters to 50% of Egyptians who are active smartphone users and lack access to formal financial services.
The platform has so far accrued 150,000 users across all its offerings and is available in 1,000 merchant locations around the country.
The unprecedented evolution of Egypt’s nascent fintech industry is a testament to the significant efforts by the Central Bank of Egypt towards financial inclusion and a less-cash society,” said Omar Saleh, Khazna’s co-founder, and CEO.
“We continue to experience exponential growth in network effects created by our 150k+ active users, our partners, and Egypt’s largest merchants.”
The platform currently offers General Purpose Credit, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), and Bill Payment.
The company’s vision is to digitize cash transactions across Egypt, in response to the Central Bank of Egypt’s recent push for financial inclusion and a “less-cash” framework.”
The startup vision reflects the efforts of banks in Egypt to increase the number of citizens’ access to financial services.
Even if the world is growing more cashless, it is difficult to picture life without a bank account.
Two out of every three Egyptians have little or no access to official financial services, despite the fact that 50 percent of the country’s 100 million citizens own smartphones.
Although banks are doing everything they can to reach out to the underbanked and unbanked, it is clear that they cannot meet everyone’s demands.
As a result, start-ups like Khazna are helping to meet the needs of a specific group of individuals while also creating novel ways to improve their services.
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