Founded in 2013 as BitPesa, Aza Finance has steadily expanded its reach across Africa and beyond, providing foreign exchange, payments, and treasury services to companies operating in emerging markets.

Karim Beguii and Zohra Slim founded Instadeep in 2014. The company was recently acquired by BioNTech in a $680M+ deal. Image credit: Instadeep

For Elmawkaa, the acquisition marks a significant success for its founders and early investors, who include entities such as Flat6Labs, TIEC, 500 Global, and Taqadam.

As the first blockchain fintech company in South Africa to receive the Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) license from South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), Kotani Pay has also positioned itself as a trusted bridge between fiat and digital currencies.