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A large share of Egypt ’s population miss entree to traditional banking , force many to trust on John Cash transactions and cozy lending . Khazna , a fintech startup establish in 2019 , is tackle this issue by offering fiscal services tailored toward low- and middle - income workers . The company supply result like salary onward motion , digital payments , and microloans to aid employees and contractors access much - demand financial services .
Khazna recently secured $ 16 million in pre - Series B funding , contribute its entire funding to over $ 63 million . The investment will support its expanding upon plans as it prepare to give for a digital banking license in Egypt and flesh out into Saudi Arabia .
When we covered the fintech in 2022 , ithad just raised a $ 38 millionSeries A with more than 150,000 customers across its products . Today , Khazna has grow its user radix to over 500,000 people ; that number is half what it was point by the remainder of 2022 , consort to what co - founder and CEO Omar Saleh share at the time .
The company focalise on proletarian earning three times less than Egypt ’s minimum wage , providing them with low-priced financial tools . About 100,000 user incur their payroll department through Khazna , allow the company to mix financial services such as loanword and insurance directly into their payroll explanation .
For the remain 400,000 exploiter , Khazna offer lending services , helping gig workers and pensionary access credit . Saleh explained that this Cartesian product made the fintech break - even last month .
“ What we did over the last two and half years was to focus on our inwardness ware , which is credit offering to paysheet and pension recipients and also unsecured loans to gig workers , ” Saleh narrate TechCrunch . “ This is the most profitable and core product in our journey , and getting it right was very important because it has help us to hit lucrativeness . ”
On the path to becoming a digital bank
Khazna render other services , like bill payments , corrupt now , pay later , medical indemnity , and a rent - to - own product . But by embedding itself into both payroll and loaning , it is strategically moving toward becoming a full - fledged digital bank for Egypt ’s underserved communities .
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But one thing is leave out : Unlike traditional banks , Khazna does n’t have access to client deposition , making it expensive to fund loans . So far , Khazna has relied on wholesale debt financing in dollars ( USD ) and Egyptian pound ( EGP ) to fund its lending operations .
To reduce borrowing cost and volunteer more low-cost loans , Khazna is now working to prevail a sedimentation - taking permit in Egypt . This license would grant the startup to accept customer deposits , allowing it to lower its cost of fund .
“ The biggest biz changer here is for us to get entree to user deposit . There ’s a huge opportunity for us to becharm part of that market as well in a fashion that will make our cost of funding much more attractive than it is today , and ultimately , that would put us in a very differentiated position , ” Saleh comment .
Khazna is targeting mid-2026 to secure the banking permission from Egypt ’s Central Bank , which laid out its regulatory framework for digital bank in July 2024 .
As the six - year - one-time fintech gets started with that process , it ’s simultaneously setting sights on Saudi Arabia , where there is a growing demand for consumer finance solutions . Unlike BNPL instrumentalist likeTabbyandTamara , which focalise on light - terminal figure BNPL credit , Khazna hop to differentiate itself with average - condition credit products like earn pay accession ( EWA ) , payroll - back up lending , and pension - free-base credit .
Expansion plans, including a not-so-imminent IPO
Another reason Khazna is prioritizing Saudi is its strong connection with Egypt , Saleh observe . With nearly three million Egyptians living in Saudi , the Egypt - Saudi remittance corridor is one of the cosmos ’s big , portray an opportunity to volunteer cross - border financial divine service , combining credit - run offering with strange central ( FX ) resolution .
Beyond market size and ware fit , Saudi Arabia ’s cap markets are also a driver in Khazna ’s determination , consort to Saleh . Tadawul , the stock exchange in Saudi Arabia , is one of the region ’s most liquid and retail - investor - driven fund exchanges , launching several IPOs over the preceding couple of years .
For that reason , Khazna plans to have 40 - 50 % of its stage business come from Saudi in the next four years , make it eligible for a public itemisation on Tadawul . For early - stage investor who have second the company for four to five years , Saleh says this provides a clear itinerary to a high - note value exit .
Sure , Khazna will fund this enlargement with the recently raised growth working capital . However , the macroeconomic challenges in Egypt over the past two years had a hand in structuring this pre - Series B round .
Between 2022 and 2023 , Egypt faced currency devaluation and economic unbalance , making fundraising more difficult for startups and ventures . The overall lag in mountain flow reflect this , as investors took a cautious advance to Egyptian startup . But 2024 contribute a major chemise , with over $ 50 billion in foreign direct investiture ( FDI ) flow into Egypt following economic reforms and a more flexible exchange rate . As a result , investor confidence returned , add regenerate pursuit from globose and regional investor .
As such , Khazna welcomed participation from new and existing investors , including orbicular investors like Quona and Speedinvest , as well as regional investment firm like Aljazira Capital ( the investment arm of Bank Aljazira of Saudi Arabia ) , anb Seed Fund ( managed by anb Capital ) , DisrupTECH , ICU Ventures , Khwarizmi Ventures , and SANAD Fund for MSME .
