MNT-Halan, an Egyptian fintech company, has raised US$200 million in equity and another US$140 million in loans, to put the company’s valuation at over $1 billion.

The company received a US$120 million investment in September 2021 from major global and regional growth investors, and it has now received a further US$200 million in equity capital from Chimera Abu Dhabi, a private investment firm that manages a diversified portfolio of listed and unlisted equities on both local and regional markets.

The investment represents more than 20% of the company, and MNT-Halan is currently in advanced stages of conversations with top international investors to raise an additional US$60 million in primary capital. MNT-valuation Halan’s will approach $1 billion following the completion of these transactions.

The company recently announced two securitisations totaling US$140 million with Commercial International Bank (CIB), Egypt’s largest private sector bank, via subsidiaries Tasaheel Microfinance Company (Tasaheel) and Halan Consumer Finance (Halan). Tasaheel has securitised US$100 million of its loan book in its second securitisation transaction. In its first securitisation since its inception in 2021, Halan Consumer Finance has securitised US$40 million of its loan book. Both offerings were oversubscribed.

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With 246,000 contracts and a strong cash pay-back ability, the combined securitized loan books represent the high quality, diversity, and granularity of the offerings, according to MNT-Halan. 

The money will help the company’s loan book expand in light of the rising demand and the inflationary environment at the moment. In its securitization programme, MNT-Halan has the ability to further securitize up to US$250 million.

Chimera Abu Dhabi, one of the best and most forward-thinking investors in the area, brought a special and committed understanding of its business, according to MNT-Halan founder and CEO Mounir Nakhla.

“Having the backing of Chimera Abu Dhabi is of significant support to the execution of our strategy. The timing of the transaction is also a testament to our ability to significantly increase our revenues and open new revenue streams while growing our bottom line, despite the macro-economic situation,” he said. “I am excited for what lies ahead as we continue to grow both organically and inorganically by offering cutting edge financial products and services locally and internationally to empower the underserved.”

“We are thrilled to be part of Egypt’s greatest fintech success story. MNT-Halan’s upward trajectory and momentum reflect the management team’s realisation of its extraordinary vision to transform a high touch business by seamlessly infusing an unparalleled proprietary tech platform while increasing product depth for its target customer segment,” said Seif Fikry, CEO of Chimera Abu Dhabi.

A Look At What The Startup Does

MNT-Halan, Egypt’s largest and fastest-growing lender to the unbanked, started off in 2018 as a ride-hailing service for two- and three-wheeled vehicles. Since then, it has transformed into a super app.

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Through its consumer-facing app, merchant app, distributed loan and payment processing software, and payment solutions, the firm links customers, vendors, and micro-enterprises. It also provides services like ride-hailing and logistics.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard

MNT-Halan, Egypt’s leading fintech company, has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tasaheel, has securitized approximately USD$150 million of its loan book in the first issue of a $600 million programme with Commercial International Bank (CIB), Egypt’s largest private sector bank. The funds will be used to boost the company’s growth across numerous lending business lines, as well as MNT-entry Halan’s into new verticals.

“We are especially pleased with the confidence that investors have placed in our company. CIB’s role was instrumental. This transaction marks our first securitization and ensures our continued growth as we expect our loan book to exceed US $2 billion over the next couple of years. This will be driven by our digital strategy capitalizing on synergies and venturing into new verticals,” MNT-Halan CEO Mounir Nakhla said. 

Here Is What You Need To Know

• The offering, which was oversubscribed by 2X, illustrates the portfolio’s excellent quality, diversity, and granularity, with 137,000 contracts and a strong cash pay-back potential. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, Al Baraka Bank, Agricultural Bank of Egypt, and the Housing and Development Bank were among the regional and local financial institutions that took part.

• MERIS has assigned a Prime 1 rating to the first three tranches and an A rating to the fourth (Middle East Rating & Investor Service).

“This transaction underscores our commitment to promoting sustainable long-term growth for the bank, our customers, and all our stakeholders and demonstrates our support for our customers throughout their journeys. We started with Tasaheel with a US c.$5 million facility in 2016 and are proud to see how fast they have grown. We work to tie our own financial success to the economic advancement of communities throughout Egypt with the ultimate goal of driving financial inclusion. We are delighted to continue supporting a business that has solid economics and serves the needs of the unbanked,” Mennan Awadallah, Head of Debt Capital Markets at CIB, said. 

A Look At What MNT-Halan Does

MNT-Halan is Egypt’s leading fintech ecosystem, as well as the largest and fastest growing unbanked and underbanked lender. The company was founded in 2018, however its roots date back to 2010. It is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt. MNT-Halan was designed to bank the unbanked digitally and to replace cash with electronic alternatives. Small and micro company lending, payments, consumer finance, and e-commerce are all part of the MNT-Halan digital ecosystem. MNT-Halan provides more than 4 million customers in Egypt, with c.1 million monthly active users, including 3.1 million financial clients and 1.8 million loans. The Financial Regulatory Authority has granted MNT-Halan micro, consumer, and nano finance licences, allowing it to provide services to both enterprises and people throughout Egypt. It has also secured the Central Bank of Egypt’s first independent electronic wallet licence, allowing it to distribute, collect, and transfer money digitally via mobile applications.

MNT-Halan Bond issuance MNT-Halan Bond issuance

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh

MNT-Halan, an Egyptian fintech startup, announced today a US$120 million investment from Apis Growth Fund II, Development Partners International (DPI), and Lorax Capital Partners, three prominent global and regional growth investors.

Middle East Venture Partners, Endeavor Catalyst, and DisruptTech have all backed the startup with venture financing. This round of funding indicates trust in the fintech opportunities in Egypt and strengthens MNT-Halan’s capitalization table. GB Capital, DPI, Algebra Ventures, Wamda, Nowaisi Capital, Unidelta, Egypt Ventures, Battery Road Digital Holdings, and Shaka VC are among MNT-previous Halan’s investors.

This funding supports MNT-Halan’s ambition to drive further innovation in its technology, product development, scale to tens of millions of customers, and expand cross-border by leveraging its first mover advantage, proprietary and highly scalable tech capabilities, and strong brand in Egypt.

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The investment also recognizes MNT- Halan’s size and long-term potential, having received micro, consumer, and nano finance licenses from the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority, as well as the first independent electronic wallet license from the Egyptian Central Bank.MNT-Halan has developed its scalable proprietary fintech ecosystem in-house, connecting customers, vendors, and micro-enterprises through its consumer facing app, merchant app, Halan Neuron (distributed lending and payment processing software), and payment solutions, with the goal of bringing seamless financial services to the unbanked and underserved customers in Egypt and the surrounding region (wallets and cards).

Why The Investors Invested

Commenting on the investment, Matteo Stefanel and Udayan Goyal, Managing Partners and Apis Partners Co-founders, said:

“We are thrilled to be investing in MNT-Halan, which is our first investment in Egypt. Our belief is that they will be the leading player digitizing the unbanked and bringing financial services to millions of underserved customers in the country, and we look forward to partnering with them to extend their impressive growth trajectory. We believe Mounir Nakhla’s track record, combined with MNT-Halan’s tech team and operational expertise, provide the ideal opportunity to invest in Egypt’s fintech sector.”

DPI Partner Sofiane Lahmar said:

“Since our partnership with Mounir and his team dating to 2018, MNT-Halan has rapidly evolved into a market-leading financial technology business, working to drive entrepreneurship and economic development in critically underserved markets. The company is well-positioned to benefit from Egypt and the region’s favourable demographics and rising adoption of digital technologies in its next growth phase. Our ADP III investment in MNT-Halan reaffirms our belief in the management team, and our commitment to the company and its long-term growth prospects, as we continue our focus on investing in high-growth, impact-driven companies from Africa’s fast growing middle class.”

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Dr. Raouf Ghabbour, Executive Chairman of GB Auto, the parent company of GB Capital, said:

“Since GB Capital first supported Nakhla, the business has delivered on its strategy and has become the prime market player. MNT-Halan has huge potential and we are very excited to welcome these sophisticated investors with deep fintech and emerging markets expertise into our capital structure, laying the foundation for explosive growth in Egypt and beyond.”

MNT-Halan Founder and CEO, Mounir Nakhla, said:

“We are at the forefront of the digital revolution sweeping across Egypt, bringing together the unbanked population with our technology. We are on track to bring financial inclusion to tens of millions of Egyptians. As a result, we will unleash this segment’s earnings potential and drive greater participation in the economy.

A Look At What MNT-Halan Does 

MNT-Halan is one of Egypt’s biggest and fastest-growing unbanked lenders. The company is situated in Cairo, Egypt, and was founded in 2018 with origins dating back to 2010. MNT-Halan was founded with the goal of digitally banking the unbanked and replacing cash with electronic alternatives. The Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority has granted MNT-Halan micro, consumer, and nano finance licenses, allowing it to provide services to both businesses and consumers across Egypt. It has also obtained the first independent electronic wallet license from the Central Bank of Egypt to disburse, collect and transfer money digitally through mobile applications.

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Traditional financial institutions are underserving and overlooking more than 70% of Egypt’s young and rapidly increasing population of over 100 million people, despite mobile coverage exceeding 90%. MNT-digital Halan’s solutions, which include lending, BNPL, e-commerce, payments, and on-demand logistics, help the organization achieve its mission of empowering underserved communities, reducing inequality, and increasing female economic participation. MNT-Halan services about 4 million customers in Egypt, with c.1 million monthly active users, including 3.1 million financial clients and 1.8 million loans. More than US$1.7 billion in loans have been disbursed by the company. It has a monthly throughput of more than $100 million dollars, which has grown over 20x in the past five years.

MNT-Halan Egyptian

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