Munify raises $3 million to serve Egyptian diaspora overseas and freelancers at dwelling with cross-border banking 

Munify has raised $3 million in seed funding to construct a cross-border neobank that serves each the Egyptian diaspora sending cash dwelling and native freelancers and companies searching for entry to U.S. banking. The spherical, in response to TechCrunch, was led by Y Combinator, with participation from regional buyers together with BYLD and DCG.

The fintech was based in 2024 by Khalid Ashmawy, the co-founder and former CTO of one of many area’s main proptech Huspy. It addresses cross-border fee challenges from each instructions. The platform launched simply two weeks in the past and has already attracted hundreds of sign-ups by phrase of mouth, in response to the corporate.

Munify operates on a twin shopper and enterprise mannequin focusing on two distinct however related markets. For Egyptians overseas; primarily within the U.S., U.Ok., Europe, and the Gulf, the platform affords quicker, cheaper remittances dwelling. For companies, distant staff, and freelancers in Egypt and the broader Center East, it supplies entry to U.S. financial institution accounts utilizing solely a neighborhood ID, eliminating conventional residency necessities.

In response to the firm’s web site, customers can “get a U.S. account with out residency” and entry “real-time transfers to multi-currency accounts” that enable them to “transfer cash the world over, securely, immediately, and at scale.”

The platform allows customers to carry and handle a number of currencies in a single place, swapping between them immediately to keep away from conversion charges and hedge in opposition to native forex volatility.

The startup’s multi-currency account system at the moment helps USD, with EUR and GBP accounts coming quickly. Customers obtain distinctive financial institution particulars for every forex, enabling seamless deposits and worldwide funds. The platform additionally affords limitless digital USD playing cards for on-line and in-store spending globally, with customizable spending limits and real-time transaction monitoring.

Upcoming options embrace skilled invoicing capabilities that may enable customers to “simply ship skilled invoices to your contacts and receives a commission immediately into your account,” with help for product catalogues, customized branding, a number of fee strategies, and multi-currency invoices. The platform may even introduce fee request performance, enabling customers to “simply request funds from anybody” by shareable hyperlinks.

The startup differentiates itself by constructing proprietary infrastructure that immediately connects banking techniques throughout nations, relatively than counting on current rails. “The primary cause why we’re totally different is that we’re constructing our personal rails and immediately connecting the banking techniques throughout totally different nations,” Ashmawy defined to TechCrunch.

Egypt represents one of many world’s largest remittance markets, receiving almost $30 billion in annual inflows. The platform at the moment helps six main currencies: USD, EUR, GBP, AED, INR, and EGP, positioning it to serve not simply Egyptian flows however broader regional corridors.

On the enterprise aspect, Munify has signed contracts with mid-sized corporations representing a projected $50+ million in month-to-month cross-border quantity. The corporate affords APIs for companies to deal with payouts, pay-ins, and card issuance, with what it describes as “lightning-fast, dependable infrastructure” designed for scalability.

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