Egypt-based fintech, Khazna has secured $38 million series A in debt and equity. This current round brings the company’s total funding to $47 million.
Proceeds from this new investment will be used to roll out new products and further achieve financial inclusion. The monies will also be used to increase Khazna’s 150,000 user base to 1 million.The raise will also help Khazna enhance a less-cash economy as advocated by the Central Bank of Egypt.
The round was led by US-based Quona Capital. Participation also came in from Nclude (the VC fund launched by three Egyptian banks and Dubai-based Global Ventures), Speedinvest, Khawarizmi Ventures, Algebra Ventures, Accion Venture Lab and Disruptech among others.
Khazna was founded by Omar Saleh, Ahmed Wagueeh , Fatimah El Shenawy in 2019 to offer financial services to the unbanked and underbanked population in Egypt.
The fintech started off by helping partner employers provide Earned Wages Access to their employees. The EWA allowed employees access earned wages anytime within the pay circle. This service was designed to help employees avoid bad debt and secure financial stability.
Overtime, Khazna grew to include buy-now-pay-later BNPL, bill payments and a prepaid debit card as part of its products.The company is harnessing technology to solve the needs of Egypt’s largely underbanked population.
Khazna’s BNPL service has ever since onboarded 1,000 merchant stores in Egypt. The startup also boasts of 150,000 customers using its products. Plans are underway to roll out new products before the end of the year.
According to the company’s CEO, Omar Saleh, Khazna is more of a super app than a digital bank because, in addition to the financial services it offers, the platform has launched multiple non-financial services as well on the app.
Khazna’s dedication to pushing the CBE’s mission of a less-cash economy makes it well positioned to leverage the bank’s infrastructure for some services in its pipeline.
“We are aligned with CBE’s vision and Khazna, at its core, believes that world-class financial services should be available to all. They’re launching multiple initiatives that we are part of, including the instant payment network where we will offer some services like instant payments through this infrastructure,” Saleh said.
“In just two years, Khazna has scaled and monetized quickly and is already a market leader in the push for financial inclusion for the 35 million underbanked in Egypt,” said Monica Brand Engel, co-founder and managing partner at Quona.
“Empowering consumers and micro-businesses with Khazna’s convenient, user-centric, and transparent financial super app can enable millions across Egypt to gain greater control over their financial lives. Quona is incredibly excited about Khazna’s roadmap to be the category-leading digital super app for inclusive finance in Egypt,” she said.
