Egyptian mobile financial services platform Khazna has raised more funds in a seed round led by Algebra Ventures. The amount raised wasn’t disclosed, but the startup acknowledged that Accion Venture Lab (AVL) also participated in the round.
This is the first time AVL, Accion’s seed-stage inclusive FinTech investment initiative, is making an investment in Egypt.
Founded in 2019, Khazna is a mobile financial services platform aiming to bring financial inclusion to more than 20 million unbanked and underbanked people in the country. The company empowers users to save, pay, borrow, and insure with little or no face-to-face and phone interactions.
Among its first major product launch is a salary cash advance service initiated in collaboration with several corporate partners. It is a unique way for individuals with limited access to credit to borrow during unforeseen financial emergencies.
“Khazna is focused on bringing customer-centric services to over 20 million active smartphone users in Egypt who lack access to formal banking and financial services. This wouldn’t have been possible without the significant momentum created by the Central Bank of Egypt towards digitization and financial inclusion,” said Khazna’s co-founder and CEO, Omar Saleh.
He added that the capital from the seed round will be used to introduce new and improve existing financial inclusion-focused products and use-cases.
Praising Omar as an “excellent entrepreneur,” Tarek Assaad, Managing Partner at Algebra Ventures, noted: “We’re seeing the rise of a new wave of Egyptian Fintech startups that are attracting interest from local and international investors. We’re excited to be leading this round with Khazna.”
