• Egypt-based fintech startup Paymob has raised $18.5 million in its Series A round, led by Global Ventures with participation from A15 and Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO.
• This round includes $15 million in new capital from existing investors. It follows a first tranche of $3.5 million raised in July 2020.
• Founded in 2015 by Islam Shawky, Alain El Hajj and Mostafa El Menessy, Paymob provides online and offline merchants with digital payment solutions.
• Its revenues grew 5x in 2020 and the startup currently serves 35,000 merchants across Egypt, Kenya, Pakistan, and Palestine.
• The investment will be used to expand to Saudi Arabia and other markets in the Middle East this year.

Press Release

Paymob (“the Company”), Egypt’s market-leading digital payments provider, announces the largest ever Series A fund raise by an Egyptian company and one of the largest fintech equity rounds in North Africa.

The Company has raised US$15 million of new capital from existing investors in a second tranche of its Series A fundraising activity. It follows a first tranche of US$3.5 million, raised in July 2020.

The capital raise was led by Global Ventures, the UAE-based venture capital firm. It also included A15, a leading tech investment fund and FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank. Paymob will use proceeds to:

• Continue expanding its merchant network;
• Meet the increasing demand;
• Enhance its suite of products further; and
• Fuel its regional expansion efforts

Paymob empowers underserved SMEs with improved and more accessible digital payments offerings as part of the Central Bank of Egypt’s efforts and initiatives towards nationwide digital financial inclusion. The Company will accelerate its expansion in Saudi Arabia and other markets across the region, in 2021.

Paymob’s mobile wallets infrastructure processes over 85% market share of transactions throughput in the Egyptian market and serves merchants across five different markets including Kenya, Pakistan, and Palestine. Paymob is the largest payment facilitator in Egypt and is the only Egyptian FinTech to expand beyond its local market.

In payment acceptance, Paymob’s monthly revenue grew over 5x in 2020 and its technology is used across economic sectors by over 35,000 local Egyptian and global merchants, such as Swvl, ElGouna, Tradeline, LG, Samsonite, Aeropostale, Befit, Breadfast, Gourmet, and the American University of Cairo. Paymob’s annual Total Payment Volume processed is now over $5 billion.

Paymob’s CEO and co-founder, Islam Shawky, said:

“We couldn’t be more excited for Paymob’s next phase of growth; the market opportunity in the region is unprecedented. The large digital payments gap still exists and we are delighted to be working with progressive-thinking regulators to address this. This latest capital raise will accelerate our progress to reducing the digital payments bottleneck. All our existing investors have increased their holdings, and we thank them both for their support and the confidence they have in our business model and track record of execution.”

Global Ventures’ General Partner, Basil Moftah, said:

“We are delighted to lead this momentous FinTech fund raise in the region. Paymob has a perfect combination of a high-quality technology, a product customers increasingly cannot do without and an outstanding management team. Their market opportunity is also huge; Egypt’s transformation to a cashless society is being enabled by the unique products Paymob has built. We look forward to continue supporting their expansion.”

A15’s Chairman, Karim Beshara, said:

“As one of Paymob’s earliest backers, we are always proud to support a young and passionate team revolutionizing the development and advancement of financial systems in Egypt, our region and beyond. Paymob’s team has shown great returns with very limited resources. Witnessing the impact of facilitating financial services to millions of end-consumers and tens of thousands of merchants coupled with hypergrowth has been a very fulfilling experience for A15.”

Jaap Reinking, Director Private Equity at FMO, said:

“Paymob is an excellent fit with FMO’s Ventures Program based on its exceptional team, innovative payment solutions and proven capability to include thousands of underserved Egyptian merchants into financial services offered by the company and its partners. We are proud to be part of the journey of Paymob in Egypt and excited to support the team throughout their next phase. The FMO Ventures Program is a EUR 200mln investment program funded by FMO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Commission targeting early-stage technology-enabled innovative business models in emerging markets.”