Khalid Ashmawy remembers the first time he took money home while studying in Europe.
He had just received a monthly scholarship as a master’s student in Stuttgart, and wanted to send some of it back to his family in Cairo. It was usually a slow and expensive process, he recalled. For example, a $400 wire transfer can cost $40 and take three business days to arrive.
A few years later, while working for Microsoft and Uber in the US, and even after establishing a startup, the experience wasn’t much improved.
The persistent pain across different stages of his career ultimately prompted Ashmaui to launch Munify, a cross-border neobank designed to provide Egyptians with faster, cheaper ways to overseas, and to provide access to US banks for residents in the country.
Earlier this year, the startup took part in Y Combinator’s summer 2025 batch. This is a rare participant from outside the US and one of the few without a core AI pitch in a class dominated by generator AI startups. The company also raised $3 million in seed funding from accelerators and other regional investors, including BYLD and DCG.
“No banking is built for people like me. It’s very expensive, long time consuming, fragmented,” the founder and CEO told TechCrunch in an interview. “It’s a problem I personally experienced and it resonates with many people who want to send money to their homes quickly and efficiently.”
Ashmawi grew up in Egypt, studied computer science and developed a deep love for software early on. The scholarship took him to Europe, where he earned two masters degrees in Germany and Switzerland.
From there, he spent seven years as an engineer and team leader at Microsoft and Uber. This is an experience that has turned to the world of disruptive technology and startups.
His next step was inevitable. In 2019, Ashmawy left Uber and launched Fund Backed Haspy, a Proptech platform focusing on Middle Eastern mortgages, and served as Chief Technology Officer until 2022.
Heshpie gave him space to reflect on his immigration journey. Again, the issue of remittances was looming. Meanwhile, in other emerging markets, platforms like Nigeria’s LEMFI and India’s Aspora have already taken off, helping immigrants from those countries send money to their homes.
Egypt is one of the world’s largest remittance markets, receiving an influx of around $30 billion a year.
While bank wire and traditional money transfer platforms such as Western Union and Moneygram remain dominant options, Munify hopes to be the first choice for digital bank growth crops that promise cheaper and faster transfers.
According to Ashmawy, Munify serves Egyptians overseas, mainly in the US, UK, Europe and the Gulf.
Munify also offers Middle Eastern businesses, remote workers and freelancers a way to open US bank accounts and cards to receive and spend only local IDs, as well as hedges against local currency volatility.
“The main reason we’re different is that we’re building our own rails and connecting banking systems from different countries directly,” the CEO told TechCrunch, adding that the platform, which just launched two weeks ago, has seen early adoption through word of mouth with thousands of sign-ups.
“We really adjusted this experience for the people in the area,” Ashmawi said.
Business-wise, Munify has signed contracts with medium-sized companies and businesses, representing a monthly forecast of over $50 million.
Working with dual consumers and business models (providing APIs to send and receive cross-border payments while providing remittances and banking services to individuals), the startup plans to expand beyond Egypt to other Middle Eastern and neighboring countries, gradually stitching together regional bank rails.
That revenue comes from Forex spreads, interchanges and payment flows.
Over the past few years, a batch of Y-combinators has been supporting US AI and developer tools. So how did Egyptian fintech get in? Ashmawi believes in the keen nature of the matter.
“If you’re big and solving an urgent issue, it’s really important whether the current wave is AI or something else,” he said.
However, there is also a precedent for this support. Historically, YC has invested in startups that solve tough financial infrastructure problems, from Stripe to Coinbase. Similarly, remittances are one of the most established pain points in global finance and one of the accelerator’s consistent focus areas in supporting startups from emerging markets (e.g. LEMFI and Aspora) before recent AI tilt.
In it, Munify represents his chance to support two US tech giants’ founders, his track record of building one of MENA’s top prop tech companies, and his personal connection to the issue.
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