Egyptian fintech startup, MNT Halan, has achieved unicorn status after attracting $400 million in the largest funding round in Egypt and the Middle East in the past 12 months.
The funding round was led by Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, Chimera Abu Dhabi, which invested $200 million in equity in exchange for over 20% of the company.
“MNT-Halan’s upward trajectory and momentum reflect the management team’s realization of its extraordinary vision to transform a high touch business by seamlessly infusing an unparalleled proprietary tech platform while increasing product depth for its target customer segment,” said Seif Fikry, CEO of Chimera Abu Dhabi.
“Having the backing of Chimera Abu Dhabi is of significant support to the execution of our strategy. The timing of the transaction is also a testament to our ability to significantly increase our revenues and open new revenue streams while growing our bottom line, despite the macro-economic situation,” said MNT-Halan Founder and CEO, Mounir Nakhla.
The company also announced it is closing on a further $60 million, which will bring equity investments to $260 million. $140 million was raised in securitized bonds issued by the company in 2022, with investors valuing MNT Halan at over $1 billion, the company said.
The funds raised in this latest round of funding will be used to expand MNT Halan’s operations across Egypt and Africa, and to continue to improve the company’s technology and services.
Based in Cairo, Egypt, MNT Halan was founded in 2018 by the merger of:
- Halan, a micro-mobility and financial services company, and
- MNT Investments, amicro-lending platform
MNT Halan has created a digital platform that links together consumers, merchants, and small businesses. This platform offers financial services such as business loans, consumer finance, payments, buy now pay later options, and e-commerce solutions. All of these services are supported by the company’s proprietary technology, Neuron.
MNT Halan provides loans to individual small business owners and people who require financing to run their operations. The company states that its digital platform serves over 5 million customers in Egypt with 3.5 million being financial clients and 2 million being loan recipients. MNT Halan intends to launch a debit card for its customers by the end of March 2023.
“We’re capitalizing on our existing distribution through million-plus customers and adding services within our ecosystem,” said the chief executive.
“If you need a loan for your business, we’re going to give you one; you need a loan for consumption, we’re going to give you one; you need to order groceries or buy a mobile phone on our platform, we’ll deliver it to you via our e-commerce stores. Also, we can give them the credit they can use to make all of these purchases within the ecosystem.”
The achievement of unicorn status by MNT Halan is also significant milestone for the Egyptian tech ecosystem, which now has both Fawry, and MNT Halan as unicorns, demonstrating the growth potential of the country’s startup sector.
This also brings to 9 the total number of unicorns in Africa.
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