EGYPT – MNT-Halan, a microfinance lending and payments company, has announced a circa US$120 million investment from three private equity funds and a group of venture capitalists.
The investment was from Apis Growth Fund II, Development Partners International (DPI), and Lorax Capital Partners.
In addition, the company has also attracted venture capital backing from Middle East Venture Partners, Endeavor Catalyst, and DisruptTech.
This round of investment demonstrates confidence in the fintech opportunity in Egypt and further institutionalizes the capitalization table of MNT-Halan.
Previous investors of MNT-Halan have included GB Capital, DPI, Algebra Ventures, Wamda, Nowaisi Capital, Unidelta, Egypt Ventures, Battery Road Digital Holdings, and Shaka VC.
“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,” Matteo Stefanel and Udayan Goyal, Managing Partners and Apis Partners Co-founders, said.
“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.”
Capitalizing on MNT-Halan’s first mover advantage, proprietary and highly scalable tech capabilities and strong brand in Egypt, this funding endorses its strategy to drive further innovation in its technology, product development, scale to tens of millions of customers, and expand cross-border.
The investment also recognizes the scale and long-term potential of MNT-Halan, which has been granted micro, consumer and nano finance licenses from the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority, as well as the first independent electronic wallet license from the Central Bank of Egypt.
“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,” DPI Partner Sofiane Lahmar said.
“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.”
Committed to bringing seamless financial services to the unbanked and underserved customers in Egypt and the surrounding region, 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 (wallets and cards).
More than 70% of the population of Egypt’s young and fast growing population of over 100 million is financially under-served and overlooked by traditional financial institutions, yet mobile penetration exceeds 90%.
“Since GB Capital first supported Nakhla, the business has delivered on its strategy and has become the prime market player,” Dr. Raouf Ghabbour, Executive Chairman of GB Auto, the parent company of GB Capital, said.
“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’s digital solutions, including lending, BNPL, e-commerce, payments, and on-demand logistics, support its mission to empower underserved communities, address inequality and female economic participation.
“We are at the forefront of the digital revolution sweeping across Egypt, bringing together the unbanked population with our technology,” MNT-Halan Founder and CEO, Mounir Nakhla, said.
“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.”
MNT-Halan was Egypt’s first private non-bank company to be licensed by the central bank to operate a digital wallet, a mobile app that lets consumers, vendors, lenders and borrowers transfer money, pay bills, buy goods on installment and secure loans.
