Egyptian super app, MNT-Halan closes $120 million financing from global investors
Egyptian fintech super app, MNT-Halan has closed a $120 million funding round from major global and regional growth investors to enhance its product and expand internationally.
The investment – which is the largest single round ever secured by an Egyptian tech startup, was led by Apis Growth Fund II, Development Partners International (DPI), and Lorax Capital Partners, and also features Middle East Venture Partners, Endeavor Catalyst, and Disruptech.
They join previous local investors like GB Capital, DPI, Algebra Ventures, Wamda, Egypt Ventures, Shaka VC, Nowaisi Capital, Unidelta and Battery Road Digital Holdings that have backed the company in the past.
MNT-Halan will use the funding to further develop its technology and move into overseas markets.
With a population of over 100 million people, over 70 percent of Egypt’s young and fast-growing population are financially underserved and overlooked by traditional financial institutions, despite having over 90 percent mobile penetration.
MNT-Halan is providing digital solutions to serve this demographic and reduce the number of unbanked and underbanked citizens, supporting its mission to empower underserved communities, address inequality and female economic participation.
Founded in 2017 by Mounir Nakhla, MNT-Halan started out as a ride-hailing app for two and three-wheeler vehicles back in 2018. Since then, the startup has morphed into a super app that provides digital solutions ranging from lending, buy now pay later, e-commerce, and payments. The MNT-Halan platform is currently the largest and fastest-growing lender to the unbanked in Egypt.
With more than one million monthly active users, MNT-Halan serves more than four million customers in Egypt. The company claims to have disbursed more than $1.7 billion of loans to 1.8 million people since inception. The company also claims to process over $100 million monthly, growing more than 20x over the last five years.
The startup’s proprietary fintech ecosystem connects customers, vendors and micro-enterprises through its consumer-facing app, merchant app, distributed lending and payment processing software, and payment solutions, as well as offering services such as ride-hailing and logistics.
“We are at the forefront of the digital revolution sweeping across Egypt, bringing together the unbanked population with our technology. We are on track to bring financial inclusion to tens of millions of Egyptians. As a result, we will unleash this segment’s earnings potential and drive greater participation in the economy,” said MNT-Halan founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Mounir Nakhla.
DPI partner Sofiane Lahmar said MNT-Halan had rapidly evolved into a market-leading financial technology business.
“The company is well-positioned to benefit from Egypt and the region’s favourable demographics and rising adoption of digital technologies in its next growth phase. Our ADP III investment in MNT-Halan reaffirms our belief in the management team, and our commitment to the company and its long-term growth prospects, as we continue our focus on investing in high-growth, impact-driven companies from Africa’s fast growing middle class,” he said.