Egyptian fintech startup Flend has raised $3 million in a seed round combining equity and debt financing to expand its fully digital, Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA)-licensed lending platform targeting small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The round underscores growing investor interest in Egypt’s burgeoning SME finance sector, as startups race to bridge a persistent credit gap estimated at over $50 billion.
The equity portion of the round was led by Egypt Ventures, with participation from Camel Ventures, Sukna Ventures, Plus VC, Banque Misr, and a number of prominent family offices, including El Sewedy and Baalbaki Group, along with strategic corporate bankers. On the debt side, Flend secured facilities from the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA) and additional local banking partners.
Flend describes itself as Egypt’s first fully digital, FRA-regulated SME financing platform. The startup integrates directly with digital platforms serving Egypt’s real economy — logistics networks, agri-distributors, e-commerce platforms, and payment systems — to embed working capital financing at the point of business operations.
In late 2024, Flend became the first Egyptian company to be licensed by the FRA as a Digital Non-Banking Financial Institution (Digital NBFI) focused on SME lending. This regulatory status allows Flend to issue legally binding loans entirely online, using e-signatures and digital contracts — a significant departure from Egypt’s historically paper-heavy and relationship-driven lending environment.
“The FRA’s recognition reflects Egypt’s commitment to building a modern, inclusive, and digitally enabled financial system — and Flend is a direct beneficiary of that vision,” said Nehal Helmy, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Flend. “We’re not just digitising old processes — we’re creating new rails for finance that are faster, fairer, and built for scale.”
A Mission to “Meet SMEs Where They Do Business”
Flend was founded by a team of veterans from banking, development finance, and digital policy. Its core value proposition is to replace traditional lending bureaucracy with real-time data and machine learning-powered credit decisions. By embedding financing into the platforms SMEs already use, Flend claims it reduces customer acquisition costs while improving credit risk profiling through richer transaction-level data.
Since launching, Flend says it has served SMEs in over 15 sectors and formed partnerships with more than 20 digital platforms. Approval times for credit have reportedly been reduced by 95%, with loan disbursement now measured in days rather than months.
“We’re proud to be backed by some of the most forward-looking investors in the region,” said Ahmed Zaki, Co-Founder and CEO. “This funding will help us deepen our embedded lending infrastructure, expand our team, and work toward our goal of injecting EGP 1 billion into Egypt’s SME economy within our first year.”
Investors see Flend as an early leader in the wave of embedded finance platforms expected to reshape access to capital for underserved business segments across MENA.
“Flend’s mission to digitally transform SME financing will be critical to unlocking value across industries,” said Abdelrahman Mansour, CEO of Egypt Ventures. “The team’s regulatory foresight and technological execution make them a standout in the Egyptian fintech ecosystem.”
Hasan Haider, Managing Partner at Plus VC, added: “Access to SME financing remains one of the most stubborn constraints on economic growth in the region. We back founders solving high-impact problems with scalable, tech-driven solutions — and Flend exemplifies that approach.”
While Flend’s core strategy is to embed lending directly into supply chain platforms, the company also operates a direct lending model in sectors aligned with Egypt’s national development goals — such as healthcare distribution, agri-food, light manufacturing, and export-driven SMEs. By combining a regulated digital framework with sector-specific risk analysis, Flend hopes to offer a more efficient and scalable model for working capital lending.
Egypt’s SME sector accounts for approximately 80% of total employment but continues to suffer from underfinancing due to perceived risk and outdated underwriting methods. As larger banks struggle to cost-effectively serve smaller clients, digital-first lenders like Flend are stepping in to offer shorter approval cycles, lower friction, and data-based pricing models.
With fresh capital in hand and a regulatory greenlight already secured, Flend is positioning itself to lead the next phase of SME financial inclusion in Egypt. The company plans to expand its product offerings, deepen integrations across vertical SaaS platforms and marketplaces, and scale its credit operations to new governorates.
Flend’s founders say the startup’s goal is not just to grow market share but to set a new national standard for SME lending: one that is fast, fair, and rooted in digital trust.