The Egyptian fintech ecosystem has witnessed a very commendable step as leading fintech Paymob which raised $3.5 million in 2020, to improve its capacity and acquire more merchants to use its payments services was in the news this week for raising an additional funding, bringing the startup to a formal Series A close of $18.5 million.
The round was led by Global Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests mostly in Middle East and North African startups but also has Nigerian healthtech Helium Health in its portfolio. FMO, which is the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, and A15 (an Eyptian investment fund) also participated in the deal. The raise is possibly the largest-ever Series A by a fintech in Egypt. Islam Shawky, the co-founder and CEO of Paymob, said the new funding is an indication of the startup’s “next phase of growth,” noting that the opportunity for digital financial services in North Africa is promising.
“The large digital payments gap still exists and we are delighted to be working with progressive-thinking regulators to address this,” Shawky said, according to Menabytes.
“This latest capital raise will accelerate our progress to reducing the digital payments bottleneck. All our existing investors have increased their holdings, and we thank them both for their support and the confidence they have in our business model and track record of execution,” he added.
Read also:Egypt’s Paymob Raises $18.5m Series A, Highest Ever For A Fintech Startup
Paymob says its digital wallet service for businesses currently owns 85% market share in Egypt as the country’s top payments facilitator. The startup reports good news from the effect of the 2020 pandemic, growing monthly revenue more than 5 times and total payment volume of more than $5 billion from over 35,000 local and international merchants. Outside Egypt where it also offers offline Point of Sale products, Paymob has locked down customers in Kenya, Pakistan and Palestine. It plans an entry into Saudi Arabia this year and other parts of the Middle East.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry