Karim Beshara

Egypt Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) is taking a big step toward accelerating digital transformation by launching a regulatory sandbox tailored for fintech startups in the non-banking financial sector. Announced at the Cairo ICT Exhibition and Conference, the sandbox will act as an incubator, providing startups with the necessary support and oversight to develop innovative solutions that align with Egypt's Vision 2030 - a strategy aimed at building a knowledge-based digital economy and expanding access to financial services. Key initiatives include: - Issuing Law No. 5 of 2022, which regulates the use of technology in non-banking financial services. - The implementation of decisions focused on digital identity, KYC protocols, and the operations of companies that support the digital transformation of non-banking financial institutions. The FRA's active participation in workshops and discussions during the event further demonstrates its commitment to advancing digital finance and increasing financial literacy for the benefit of the Egyptian economy. This regulatory sandbox will open up new opportunities for fintech startups, foster innovation, and ensure that the non-bank financial sector remains competitive. (Image by EgyptToday) #Fintech #DigitalTransformation #FinancialInclusion #Egypt #NonBankingFinance #CairoICT

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Stay informed with Exits MENA's weekly news! 🔹 Egypt-based B2B payment platform Settle raised $2 million in pre-seed funding led by Shorooq Partners, with support from El Sewedy Capital Holding, Banque Misr, and others. 🔹 Kenzz, an e-commerce platform catering to the mass market in Egypt, has launched Kenzz TV, a revolutionary video shopping feature designed to enhance and personalize the online shopping experience. 🔹 Ras Banas, the world’s largest untouched coral reef ecosystem, stretches 50 kilometers into the Red Sea and includes the historic Port Berenice. This new investment plan echoes the $35 billion Ras El-Hekma deal from February, the largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Egypt’s history. The government retained a 35% stake in that project. 🔹 Saudi ACWA Power will secure $1.5 billion for a wind energy project in Suez, Egypt by November, with final contracts expected by the end of 2024. 🔹 LabLabee, an Algerian edtech startup, raised $3.4 million in seed funding to drive 5G, cloud, and AI adoption in the telecom and industrial sectors, led by Reach Capital and supported by Classera, Brighteye Ventures, and e& capital. 🔹 Farid, an Egyptian EdTech startup, secured $250,000 in pre-seed funding from Saudi businesswoman Amal bint Abdulaziz Al-Ajlan, to expand its educational platform and enter Saudi Arabia and the UAE markets. 🔹 Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced a $5 billion investment in Egypt via the Public Investment Fund (PIF) during talks with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly in Riyadh, aiming to strengthen bilateral economic ties. 🔹 UAE-based automotive SaaS company Seez secured a $4.2 million investment to fuel its expansion into the US market, building on its proprietary AI technology. 🔹 UmrahCash, a Riyadh-based fintech startup, has secured $500,000 in investment from Adaverse Venture Fund to modernize the traditional Umrah experience and address financial challenges for pilgrims, especially from developing countries. 🔹 Hub71’s 15th cohort welcomes 21 startups, increasing the total supported ventures to 243, with Cohort 15 startups collectively raising $134.9 million. 🔹 Userguest secured $2.4 million seed funding to expand and innovate hotel tech, enhancing direct bookings through personalized messages in over thirty countries. #Exits #mena #news #startup #investment #business #venture #capital #GCC #ecommerce #finance

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Mark Narouz our Head of beyond banking, will be taking the stage at V-Lab summit at AUC Venture Lab as a speaker at "Re-imagining Digital Payments" panel. The panel will be tackling the emerging trends in the digital payments landscape. The discussion will dive into the latest innovations, card schemes, banks and startups adaptability and delve into the world of new digitally enabled products and services. #DigitalBanking #Innovation #FintechRevolution #BankSmarter #SeamlessBanking #ModernFinance #firstdigitalbank #egypt

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💫 From established players to emerging startups, the fintech ecosystem in the Middle East and Africa is thriving 💫 Finastra Universal Banking's Siobhan Byron MBA, PMP (she/her), and Karim El Mourabet spoke to The Fintech Times about the dynamics and growth of the sector and the unique opportunities and challenges faced by different markets. Read the interview here 👉 https://okt.to/m2R7an

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Egypt-based fintech newcomer Qardy has just announced a substantial enhancement to its operational capabilities, having successfully closed a seven-figure pre-seed funding round in US dollars. This injection of capital is earmarked for the expansion of Qardy’s innovative platform, which is designed to facilitate the provision of loans to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Launched in 2022, Qardy has quickly made a name for itself, carving out a reputation as a reliable ally for MSMEs and partnering financial institutions alike. Boasting a portfolio of over 1,000 corporate clients and having processed loans totaling more than EGP 550 million (approximately USD 12 million), Qardy has showcased its robust growth trajectory. The investment round was spearheaded by 500 Global, White Field Ventures, and Vastly Valuable Ventures, with additional contributions from a number of angel investors. Click the link to read more: https://lnkd.in/dnqcqpJV #innovationvillage #quardy #fintech #seedfunding #investments #egypt #msme #innovations #africabusiness #technews #techtrends

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Egypt-based financial services enabler Paymob has announced a $22 million Series B extension round, bringing its total Series B funding to $72 million. The extension was led by EBRD Venture Capital, with additional participation from Endeavor Catalyst. Existing investors, including PayPal Ventures, BII, FMO, A15, Nclude and Helios Digital Ventures, reaffirmed their commitment to Paymob's business model and leadership in the regional fintech space. Paymob continues to focus on strengthening its market position in Egypt, while scaling its operations in newly entered markets to solidify its role as the leading payments provider in the region. Founded in 2015, Paymob became the first fintech to receive a payments facilitator licence from the Central Bank of Egypt in 2018. It expanded to the UAE in 2022, secured Saudi Payments' PTSP certification in May 2023, and became the first international fintech to obtain Oman's PSP licence in December 2023. Paymob's expansion across the GCC was fueled by its initial Series B funding of $50 million in 2022, led by Kora Capital, PayPal Ventures and Clay Point. (Image by Zawya) #FinTech #Funding #DigitalPayments #Egypt #MiddleEastTech #FinancialInnovation

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EG Bank Launches Mint FinTech Accelerator to Drive Innovation in Egypt's Financial Sector 💼 EG Bank, in partnership with the USAID-funded Egypt Business Program and DAI, has unveiled the Mint FinTech Accelerator. This initiative is part of the bank’s strategy to expand partnerships, attract a broader customer base, and solidify its leadership in Egypt's financial sector. Mint offers emerging fintech startups a unique opportunity for growth, providing them with intensive training, essential funding, and a collaborative environment to foster innovation. The program aims to strengthen partnerships between startups and EG Bank, leading to the development of innovative financial services that cater to a diverse range of customer needs. This initiative also aims to support financial inclusion in Egypt by bringing new customer segments into the financial system and creating job opportunities, marking a significant step forward in the country’s fintech landscape. #FinTech #Egypt #Innovation #EGbank #FinancialInclusion #Startups

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bokra, an Egyptian fintech that enables people to effectively manage their wealth, has raised $4.6 million in pre-seed funding to launch the Bokra app, expand its investment offerings and scale its operations across the MENA region. “The fintech addresses several challenges that retailers and SMEs face when attempting to manage their wealth, including a lack of personalised investment planning, fragmented applications for asset-class investments, opaque fee structures, and high-ticket physical assets. “However, with the help of this fund, the Bokra app can provide personalised and balanced financial and investment planning across various asset classes, while empowering users to manage and expand their wealth through fractional ownership of a diverse range of products.” Via Techpoint Africa. https://lnkd.in/dsie-rr6 #fintech #financialservices #funding #fundingnews #africa

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With impressive traction, a proven model, and a top-tier team, Simma is redefining financial trust and accessibility in a traditionally cash-driven market. Led by co-founders Samer I. Tarazi and Ghassan Saad, Simma is paving the way for digital payments in Iraq. 🌍💳 We share our insights into why we decided to invest in Simma and why they should be on your investment radar. Dive into the full story and see why we're excited about their journey! #ahli #fintech #investment #payments #iraq

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🇪🇬 𝗘𝗴𝘆𝗽𝘁 𝗜𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹–𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗺 💥 With the upcoming launch of its first #digital #bank, #Egypt has a massive opportunity to boost #financial #inclusion across the country, laying the ground for a modern, customer-centric #banking system. In early May, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) granted preliminary approval to Misr Digital Innovation (MDI), the investment subsidiary of Banque Misr, to launch “OneBank Egypt”, the country’s first-ever digital native bank. ➡️🤔 In your opinion, having a fully digital bank that is owned by one of the largest state-owned banks in Egypt will have a positive or negative impact on the fintech startups operating in Egypt❔ More on International Banker: https://lnkd.in/eGYRcmeD

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We are pleased to announce a strategic collaboration between Fils , a global leader in sustainability infrastructure, and eeasy Payment Services, a digital payments technology company operating across the #MiddleEast and #Africa. This partnership introduces a solution that integrates #sustainability tracking into everyday transactions, allowing businesses and consumers to monitor and offset carbon emissions with each purchase. Through this collaboration, eeasy's payment technology will embed Fils' advanced sustainability infrastructure, enabling clients to make climate-conscious transactions while ensuring full #transparency and #traceability through #blockchain technology. This development aims to facilitate the transition toward a low-carbon economy, helping businesses seamlessly adopt sustainable practices and empowering consumers to contribute to environmental protection. This partnership marks Fils' entry into the #African market, enhancing its mission of embedding sustainability into the core of digital payments across the region. Together, we are setting the standard for climate-positive business models and delivering impactful solutions for the future of commerce. #Filsxeeasy #SustainablePayments #ClimateAction #FintechInnovation #DigitalTransformation #GreenEconomy #MiddleEast #Africa #CarbonOffset #EcoFriendlyTransactions Nameer Khan | Ahson Saeed | Gaurav Dhar | Arshad Khan | eeasy Payment Services | Usman Sarwar | Bismah Shehzad | malaika khan | Humail Ali

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EGYPTAIR, Amazon Payment Services, and Banque Misr have formed a strategic partnership to enhance the online payment experience for travellers worldwide. This collaboration integrates Egyptair’s travel services with Amazon Payment Services’ innovative online payment processing capabilities, supported by Banque Misr. Travellers across the MENA region can now easily and securely book and pay for their Egyptair tickets online. As part of the partnership, Amazon Payment Services offers its instalments service, allowing customers to pay for their tickets in smaller, manageable amounts. This partnership further supports Egypt’s growing digital economy, with Amazon Payment Services available across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other MENA countries. (Image by BusinessNews) #DigitalPayments #Fintech #Egyptair #AmazonPaymentServices #CustomerExperience #MENA

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📢 Big news for Egypt’s FinTech landscape! The Egyptian government has just launched a new Digital Tax System as part of its strategy to modernize and digitize its financial services. This system aims to streamline tax procedures, making them more transparent, efficient, and accessible for businesses of all sizes 🏦📊 At Falak Startups, we’re excited to see how this will further empower the growing fintech sector in Egypt and pave the way for innovation, compliance, and greater financial inclusion 🚀 With this move, Egypt is taking a bold step toward fostering a more digital economy, reducing tax evasion, and encouraging more entrepreneurs to formalize their businesses. What are your thoughts on how this will impact the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Egypt? Share your insights below! 👇🏼 #FinTech #DigitalTransformation #Egypt #Startups #FalakStartups #DigitalEconomy #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #EmpoweringThrough

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Jordan's ISSFJO - Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund is investing $5 million in Global Ventures Fund III to support local startups. The largest #investment fund in Jordan, the $98 million Global Ventures Fund III, invests in Jordanian entrepreneurs. SMEs and #startups, which make up 98% of newly registered companies in Jordan, generate over 50% of private sector GDP and 60% of new jobs, according to Global Ventures Managing Partner Noor Sweid. The Jordanian Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund is investing $5 million in Global Ventures Fund III to support entrepreneurs and startups. A statement said Global Ventures will invest in Jordanian entrepreneurs from the largest $98 million fund in Jordan. The UAE-based Global Ventures makes growth-stage #investments across the Middle East and Africa. They invest in over 60 enterprises in 10 markets with $300 million in assets. “We are pleased to welcome Global Ventures Fund III into our portfolio of funds. They have shown strong commitment to the Jordanian #ecosystem by investing in several Jordanian companies through previous funds,” said Mohammed Al Muhtaseb, CEO of ISSF. To share your startup story write us on - [email protected] #ISSF #Venture #Ecosystem #Startups #Growth #Jordan

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With 3.4 million micro-sized businesses in Egypt, international payment barriers have been a significant challenge, especially for advertising on platforms like Google. Banks charge 5 to 10% on any transaction, and payments are limited to credit cards with caps ranging from $500 to $2,000 per month, depending on business size. We are excited to announce our new initiative aimed at supporting the economy by eliminating international restrictions on Google Ads payments. Any business with Google Ads spend of less than 50K EGP (approximately $1K USD) can now immediately access our self-service solution, Converted-Pay with 0 fees. With Converted-Pay, businesses can pay for ads using local payment methods, debit cards, or bank transfers without bank limits 0 fees.

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