Egypt’s Flend raises $3 million in debt and fairness for its embedded SME lending platform 

Egyptian fintech startup Flend has closed a $3 million seed funding spherical to scale its embedded SME lending platform throughout Egypt’s underserved small enterprise sector.

The spherical mixed fairness and debt financing, with Egypt Ventures main the fairness portion alongside Camel Ventures, Sukna Ventures, Plus VC, Banque Misr, and household workplaces El Sewedy and Baalbaki. MSMEDA and native banking companions offered debt financing. The breakdown of fairness and debt was not disclosed.

Based in 2022 by Ahmed Zaki, Nehal Helmy and Saif Edeen El Bendari, Flend claims to be Egypt’s first totally digital SME lending platform, licensed by the Monetary Regulatory Authority as a Digital Non-Banking Monetary Establishment.

What makes Flend completely different from another related platforms within the area is its embedded financing mannequin; it plugs instantly into the platforms SMEs already use to run their companies, like B2B marketplaces and provide chain programs.

This implies SMEs can entry financing throughout the stream of their each day operations, usually triggered by routine actions like buying stock or receiving orders. It removes the necessity for prolonged, guide approval processes and allows quicker, extra correct credit score selections by utilizing real-time operational information.

It already has 20 embedded companions throughout agri-food, healthcare, e-commerce, and manufacturing, permitting SMEs to entry credit score precisely when and the place they want it.

The platform plans to inject a little bit over $20 million (EGP 1 billion) in working capital loans over the approaching yr, concentrating on Egypt’s $50 billion SME financing hole. The transfer aligns with broader regional efforts to digitize monetary companies and enhance SME entry to capital.

Ahmed Zaki, co-founder and CEO of Flend, stated the corporate has seen rising demand for its product and is now able to scale the platform with the assist of this funding spherical.

Hasan Haider, Founder and Managing Accomplice at Plus VC, highlighted Flend’s regional significance: “Flend is fixing a serious regional problem—making SME finance digital-first, embedded, and accessible.”

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