Most of the Egyptian population has no access to conventional banks, and many have forced to rely on cash trading and unofficial lending. Kazuna, a Fintech startup established in 2019, is working on this issue by providing financial services tailored to low -income workers and middle -income workers. The company provides solutions such as salary progress, digital payments, and microlones so that employees and contractors can access very necessary financial services.
Khazna has recently secured the $ 16 million series B, raising the total funds to more than $ 63 million. This investment supports the expansion plan because it has applied for a digital banking license in Egypt and is ready to expand to Saudi Arabia.
When we covered FinTech in 2022, it raised a 38 million dollar series A, which has more than 150,000 customers throughout the product. Today, Kazuna has increased the user base to more than 500,000. According to what CEO’s Omar Saleh was shared at that time, the number was half the target by the end of 2022.
The company focuses on workers, three times less than Egyptian wages, and offers affordable financial tools. Approximately 100,000 users receive salary calculations via Kazuna so that companies can directly integrate financial services such as loans and insurance into salary calculations.
For the remaining 400,000 users, KHAZNA provides lending services so that gig workers and pensioners can access their credit. Saleh explained that the product destroyed Fintech last month.
“What we did for the past two and a half years was to focus on core products, a non -security loan for gig workers,” we did for the salary and pensioners. ” CEO’s Omar Saleh told TechCrunch. “This was the most profitable core product on our journey, which helped to achieve profitability, so it was very important to make it right.”
Road to become a digital bank
KHAZNA offers other services such as payment of invoices, purchases now, paying later, medical insurance, and rental products. However, by embedding itself in both salaries and lending, it is strategically moving to become a full -fledged digital bank for unreasonable communities.
However, one thing may be lacking. Unlike conventional banks, Kazuna cannot use customer deposits and costs money to provide loans. So far, Kazuna has rely on wholesale debt loans for dollars (USD) and Egypto (EGP) to provide funds to the lending business.
In order to reduce borrowing costs and provide more affordable loans, Kazuna is currently working to get a deposit license in Egypt. With this license, startups can accept customer deposits and reduce the cost of funds.
“The biggest game changer here is to be able to access the user deposits. There is a major opportunity to get some of the market in a way to make the cost of financing much more attractive than today. , Eventually, he will be in a very differentiated position, “he said.
KHAZNA targets the mid -2026 in the mid -2026 to secure bank license from the Central Bank of Egypt, which provided a Digital Bank regulatory framework in July 2024.
When the 6 -year -old Fintech starts the process, he is also aiming at Saudi Arabia, which is increasing in demand for consumer finance solutions. Unlike BNPL players such as Tabby and Tamara, which focus on short -term BNPL credit, KHAZNA wants to differentiate from medium -term credit products such as wage access (EWA), salary secured loan, pension -based credit. 。
Expansion plan including IPO that is so uneven
Saleha points out that another reason Kazuna gives priority to Saudi is a strong connection with Egypt. The remittance corridor of Egypt and Saudiouji, where nearly 3 million Egyptians live in Saudi Arabia, are one of the largest corridors in the world, provide opportunities to provide borders and have the opportunity to provide financial services and are credit -led. Combine foreign exchange (FX) solutions.
Saudi Arabia’s capital market is beyond the market size and product, and Saleha is also a promotion of Kazuna’s decision. The Saudi Arabia securities exchange, Tadaurul, is one of the most fluid and retailer -led stock exchanges in the region, and has released several IPOs in the past few years.
As a result, Kazuna is planning to acquire 40-50 % of the business from Saudi Arabia in the next four years, and will be able to qualify for a public list of Tadaurul. Saleh says that it provides a clear path to a high -value exit for the early investors who have supported the company for four to five years.
Certainly, Kazuna provides funds to this expansion with recently promoted growth capital. However, the Egyptian macro economic issues over the past two years have posted their hands on building the previous series B round.
Between 2022 and 2023, Egypt faced currency and economic instability, making funding more difficult for emerging companies and ventures. The overall deceleration of the trading flow reflects this because investors have taken cautious approaches to Egyptian emerging companies. However, in 2024, a major change was caused by more than 50 billion dollars of foreign direct investment (FDI), following economic reform and more flexible exchange rates. As a result, the trust of investors has returned, bringing new interests from global and local investors.
For this reason, Khazna is new and existing, including a regional investment company (ANB CAPITAL), such as the ALJAZIRA CAPITAL (ALJAZIRA’s investment department) Investment We welcomed the participation from the house. , DiscrupTech, ICU Ventures, KHWARIZMI Ventures, Sanad Fund for MSME.
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