Cairo-based fintech company, Khazna, has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding with the aim of providing mobile financial services to the underbanked in the country. The funding round was led by Egyptian VC Algebra Ventures, with Accion Venture Lab participating.
Founded in 2019 by Omar Saleh, Ahmed Wagueeh, Fatimah El Shenawy, and Omar Salah, Khazna is targeting over 20 million underbanked Egyptians who it says are active smartphone users but have little access to formal financial services.
Khazna’s co-founder and CEO, Omar Saleh, in a statement said, “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.”
He also explained that Khaza will use the investment to advance their “financial inclusion-focused products and use cases to reach the product/market fit stage by leveraging new technologies, data, and analytical tools to serve the underbanked in Egypt.”
Tarek Assaad, Managing Partner with Algebra Ventures, said, “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. Omar is an exceptional entrepreneur and we believe that he and his team will grow Khazna to be one of the most transformative startups emerging from Egypt in the next few years.”
Accion’s President and CEO Michael Schlein, said, “Egypt has made strides in recent years toward greater financial inclusion, but millions of Egyptians still struggle to access the financial services they need to build better lives. Fintech startups like Khazna are uniquely positioned to develop better, faster, safer ways to meet the needs of the underserved.”
“Accion Venture Lab is excited to expand our reach into Egypt with this latest investment in Khazna, whose holistic digital banking app and strong founding team are a valuable addition to our portfolio,” added Ashley Lewis, Senior Investment Officer for Africa at Accion Venture Lab,” he added.
