Thndr, Egypt’s digital investment platform, has raised a new $20 million series A round. Tiger Global, BECO Capital, and Prosus Ventures led the round, with Base Capital, firstminute, and prior investors Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Raba Partnerships, and JIMCO also participating.
“We are building an investment supermarket for MENA consumers to access relevant investment products. With a focus on financial literacy, we equip investors with the knowledge to make self-directed investment decisions. We pride ourselves in being agents of change in the investment sector, and staying true to our mission of democratising investing for everybody in the region. The support from leading global investors is a significant endorsement to our strategy and the very clear market opportunity in the region. We’re thrilled to announce this new funding to continue pioneering wealthtech in the region,” Ahmad Hammouda, Co-Founder and CEO of Thndr, said.
Thndr’s fresh capital will go toward product development and expanding its presence across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Why The Investors Invested
The startup has generated considerable traction since it was founded. Thndr’s assets under custody have increased at a high rate — 29x by 2021 — and monthly traded values have increased at a comparable rate. During the year 2021, Thndr accounted for 36% of all new registrations on local Egyptian markets.
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Alex Cook, Partner at Tiger Global, commented:
“We’re excited to support Ahmad, Seif, and the Thndr team as they make investing more accessible in Egypt and the MENA region. The market is lacking a low cost, easy to use platform for investing and saving, and we believe Thndr will deliver best-in-class customer experience as the platform scales.”
Yousef Hammad, Managing Partner at BECO Capital, said:
“The Thndr team’s vision and mission to empower millions of individuals across the MENA region, starting off with Egypt, to become everyday investors resonated very strongly with us. We have been close to the Thndr team since the very beginning and have seen first hand the team’s ability to continuously execute. After scoping the MENA landscape, it became very clear that Hammouda and the Thndr team are tackling the space in a far superior way to others.”
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Sandeep Bakshi, Head of European Investments for Prosus Ventures, commented:
“Compared to other developed regions, the opportunity in MENA for equity brokerage is more complex for an international player to capture given the regional fragmentation, cultural nuances, and regulatory framework. Thndr is in a unique position to execute on this massive opportunity. We believe the company’s mission is part of a transformative era for fintech in the region, enabling a larger and younger population of individuals to access equity capital markets.”
A Look At What The Startup Does
Thndr, founded by Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr in late 2020, is filling this void by modernizing the region’s traditionally archaic, slow, and inefficient process of opening and managing investment accounts. Through its mobile-based and low-commission digital stock brokerage, the company is making it simple to invest in stocks, bonds, and ETFs in the region.
MENA countries are substantially underserved in terms of investing platforms when compared to the US and Europe, with current investor penetration of less than 3% across the region.
The fundamentals of the MENA market are compelling: The region’s 370 million people have $500 billion in annual savings, 62 percent have cellphones, and half are between the ages of 14 and 45. Platforms like Thndr are making investors out of people who previously had little or no exposure to the stock market. In fact, Thndr’s user base includes 87 percent first-time investors and 40 percent users from rural areas.
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Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer