Telda, an Egyptian consumer money app has raised $20M in a SEED funding round to revolutionize finance for the MENAP region.
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Egypt’s FinTech Telda has raised $20M in a SEED round led by Global Founders Capital (GFC) with participation from Sequoia Capital and Block, Inc. The startup was founded in 2021 by Ahmed Sabbah and Youssef Sholqamy and raised $5M in a Pre-SEED round last year.
FinTech continues to be the industry of choice across the MEAPT region this year. Over in Africa, FinTech was the leading industry both in terms of funding and total transactions. Nigeria was the leading geography for the industry largely driven by a $250M Mega round recorded by FinTech startup Flutterwave. In MENA, UAE led the charts but we have seen sufficient wins being recorded by the other top geographies of the region, KSA and Egypt. Almost 25% of the funding raised by KSA this year went into FinTech startups with the Kingdom also recording a Mega Round, a $100M Series B round by BNPL Tamara. FinTech in Egypt has taken up over 40% of the funds deployed with PayMob recording the highest round of the year for the country.
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Through the app, users can create a free account and receive a free Telda card to use online and in stores. The card allows users to withdraw cash from ATMs and pay bills online. Telda's customers are also able to send and receive money with no charge, embedding the social aspect into the money transfer experience. According to the startup, it wants to “change the way people feel about and interact with their finances in this part of the world: from money transfers to online/offline purchases to saving habits.”
Telda secured license approval from the CBE a few weeks ago to launch as a consumer money and payment app in the Egyptian market. The company started operations last month and launched its app and a Mastercard-powered card to the public. Ahmed Sabbah told TechCrunch, “We believe our competition is and has always been cash and this is the hardest competition to face in MENA. We’re laser-focused towards changing how Egyptians feel about and interact with their money.”
Telda will utilize the investment to pursue its mission of fully and seamlessly digitizing Egyptians’ use and concept of money, including the “crucial social element” to sending, spending, and saving money. Roel Janssen, a partner at lead investor Global Founders Capital, concluded, “We are incredibly excited to further strengthen our partnership with Telda. The company has launched a product that is better than most international consumer payments companies, and Ahmed and Youssef have attracted some of the brightest Egyptian talent in product, engineering and GTM. We are confident that Telda will continue to amaze Egyptian customers with an outstanding product experience and exceptional service in the coming years.”
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Source: techcrunch.com