MNT-Halan, Egypt’s first fintech unicorn, has had its valuation raised to $1.4bn following a new investment led by Al Ahly Capital, the investment arm of the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), the country’s largest bank.
The transaction marks the first closing of an ongoing funding round, with a second closing expected, the company said in a statement on June 8, 2026. The size of the investment was not disclosed.
The deal adds to a growing number of partnerships between traditional financial institutions and fintech companies in Egypt, as banks and investors increase their exposure to digital financial services and non-bank financial solutions.
Founded in 2018 initially as a ride-hailing app for two- and three-wheelers, MNT-Halan has since pivoted into a comprehensive digital ecosystem. It is now Egypt’s largest non-bank lender to the unbanked and underbanked, offering consumer finance, micro-enterprise loans, payments, savings, investments, e-commerce and logistics services.
The company became Egypt’s first fintech unicorn in 2023 after securing a $400m equity and debt financing round at a $1bn valuation. It has since expanded into Türkiye and Pakistan, and launched operations in the UAE in 2024, with plans to enter new Gulf markets.
Capital injection to fuel domestic expansion, regional ambitions
MNT-Halan said it will direct most of the proceeds from the new investment toward expanding its operations in Egypt while also supporting its regional growth strategy. The company currently serves over 8 million customers globally and has disbursed more than $15.5bn in loans since its launch.
The investment is the first time a commercial bank has become an equity partner in the company, after years of collaboration with more than 30 Egyptian and regional financial institutions, Mounir Nakhla, founder and chairman of MNT-Halan, said in the statement.
“I am delighted to welcome Al Ahly Capital, the investment arm of Egypt’s largest bank, to the company’s shareholders. This is the first time a national banking institution has become an equity partner in the company, making this a very important milestone in our journey,” Nakhla said.
“We have contributed to supporting more than 4 million individuals and business owners to develop their projects and meet their families’ financial needs, enabling them to own their first smartphones and join the digital world.”
Karim Saadé, CEO and managing director of Al Ahly Capital, said the investment reflected the firm’s confidence in MNT-Halan’s ability to continue growing regionally and the efficiency of its management team.
“The company has succeeded in building an integrated and diversified ecosystem that serves millions of customers and contributes to bridging significant gaps in financial inclusion,” Saadé said.
Securitisation as the core funding engine
MNT-Halan’s lending model is capital-intensive and requires a continuous inflow of funding to sustain the loan book’s growth. The company has increasingly relied on securitisation — the process of bundling existing loan receivables and selling them to investors as yield-bearing bonds — as its core funding mechanism.
In April 2026, Hala Consumer Finance, MNT-Halan’s consumer lending arm, completed a 2.214bn Egyptian pound ($41.3m) securitisation bond issuance. The transaction marked the fifth tranche within Capital Securitisation’s seventh programme, which targets a total value of approximately EGP 11.5bn ($214.8m).
It followed a larger issuance in October 2025, when MNT-Halan secured EGP 3.4bn ($71.4m) through a securitised bond offering. Both deals fall under a broader three-year securitisation programme approved by Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority.
This securitisation strategy proved central to the company reaching unicorn status in 2023, following a funding round that comprised $200m in equity alongside $140m in debt raised through two separate securitisations.
A financing model gaining traction across Egypt
MNT-Halan is not the only regional fintech to rely heavily on this financing structure. valU, a prominent Egyptian buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) platform, has raised EGP 12.3bn ($246m) through 15 separate securitisation issuances since 2021.
The approach allows fintechs to secure large, repeatable tranches of capital independently of venture capital cycles — a notable operational benefit in a globally constrained VC climate. In an inflationary environment where consumer demand for credit rises to meet the higher cost of living, securitisation offers a fast-moving conveyor belt of liquidity.
While the continued success of MNT-Halan’s securitisation programmes signals strong investor confidence in the underlying quality of its loan portfolio, it also highlights a structural reliance on functioning local credit markets and the ongoing repayment capacity of its borrowers.
The National Bank of Egypt is the country’s largest and oldest bank, founded in 1898. It holds a 38.3% market share of total banking assets in Egypt, 43.1% of total loans, and 38% of customer deposits, with approximately 20.4 million customers and 637 branches.
For Al Ahly Capital, the investment forms part of its private equity strategy focused on backing businesses operating in sectors linked to financial inclusion and economic development.
The transaction comes as Egyptian regulators continue to support digital transformation and broaden access to financial and banking services through technology-driven platforms. The non-banking financial services and fintech sector is currently witnessing increasing support from regulatory bodies as part of efforts to accelerate digital transformation and expand the base of beneficiaries of financial services.
The Egyptian fintech sector has seen significant activity in 2026. In February, Paymob raised $50m in a Series B round, the largest of its kind in Egypt to date. Blnk secured over $37m in equity and debt funding in June, while Money Fellows raised $13m in a strategic round.