enza Bags US$6.75 Million In Seed Round For Africa Expansion

Abu Dhabi-based fintech startup enza has raised US$6.75 million in a seed equity round co-led by Cairo-based venture capital (VC) firm Algebra Ventures and the Washington-based VC Quona Capital, marking the company's first external funding.

enza, which operates in Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa, was founded by Hany Fekry and Hamish Houston in 2023, and provides payment solutions that enable banks and fintechs to offer locally relevant payment capabilities, including cards, wallets, and real-time payments. 

In a conversation with Inc. Arabia, Houston, who is also enza's Group Chief Operating Officer (COO), spoke about how the recent funding round will help the company expand its footprint in Africa. “This is our first external capital raise, and so, it is a significant milestone for us, and a great validation of our thesis," he said. "Up to now, we have built enza off the back of our own investment and a focus on deliberate organic growth, and the new investment unlocks the ability for us to accelerate our journey, and specifically to expand our presence in key markets so that we can work even more closely with our bank and fintech partners."

“Furthermore, the investments will also fuel enhancements to our services and technology that have been engineered specifically for the African environment, including our orchestration layer," Houston continued. "These services form a core foundation of the infrastructure needed to power more inclusive and resilient digital financial services across the continent.”   

Houston told us that while Africa’s fintech sector presents significant opportunities, some persistent challenges remain when it comes to operating and scaling a fintech enterprise on the continent. He noted that the diversity of Africa’s individual markets, each with its own financial ecosystem, regulatory environment, and consumer payment options, makes regional execution more complex.

“More than 60 million African small and medium enterprises (SMEs) remain dependent on transacting in cash; therefore, financial inclusion requires support for the locally relevant payment methods, and not only those payment options tied to traditional global oligopolies," he explained. "In recent years, there has been a proliferation of local and regional payment options from traditional card rails to domestic payment schemes, instant payments, mobile money, and fintech wallets. This means that service providers can’t dictate payment options, but need to support the trusted payment methods of consumers in those markets. This diversity creates a challenge for interoperability at a local and regional scale."   

But change is on the horizon. “The good news is that modern technology is finally making these integrations more feasible, enabling us to build inclusive systems at scale,” Houston said. According to him, technology is changing the landscape for fintech players, and this understanding is what is driving enza’s pragmatic approach, which has led the company to focus on offering services beyond transactions. "We believe the margins on payment acceptance flows will diminish over time, as the true value lies not in the transaction itself, but in the ability to offer valuable services above the transaction layer (often building on data insight from the transaction flows)," he explained. "This is one of the reasons why we are bullish on banks. The breadth of banks’ services positions them to reclaim ground from fintechs, as with the right capabilities, they are able to deliver broader value to the customer on the back of the payments relationship." 

enza’s strategy is thus centered on making financial infrastructure more adaptable. “enza is being built for this future," Houston said. "Our orchestration platform is designed to remove complexity, and give our partners the flexibility to support any relevant tender type, whilst opening up services like data intelligence, optimization, and fraud prevention. Hence our goal is to be an enabler of the broader digital economy by helping banks, platforms, and their merchants turn payment flows into insights, relationships, and ultimately, growth." 

Speaking to Inc. Arabia, Tarek Assaad, Managing Partner at Algebra Ventures, told us that he sees enza’s leadership and approach as key to its success in the competitive fintech space. "The enza leadership team have an impressive track record of starting, growing, and exiting fintech businesses across the continent," he said. "enza was uniquely capable of hitting the ground running as a pan-African payments player from the outset and is experiencing remarkable growth across its product offering."  

Assaad added that his firm believes enza is well-positioned to transform Africa’s payments ecosystem by providing essential infrastructure that banks and fintechs need to succeed. Assaad also told us that Algebra Ventures’ previous experience investing in fintech has made it keen to ensure that teams and startups have the right components in place to succeed. “One key takeaway is the importance of navigating regulatory landscapes; having a dedicated team member focused on compliance and regulation is essential. Additionally, the diverse nature of African markets means that strategies cannot be universally applied; it is crucial to have local expertise to operate effectively in each distinct market. Furthermore, many successful entrepreneurs have thrived by forming partnerships with established entities like banks, which helps them integrate into the financial ecosystem and strengthens their market position.”  

Looking ahead, Houston believes that the evolution of the payment landscape in Africa will drive growth across industries, and he expects embedded finance and digital ecosystems to shape the next phase of growth. “The payments industry exists only to facilitate the efficient exchange of value between participants in the broader economy. That’s its purpose, and as Africa’s digital economy matures, payments must evolve to keep pace with the increasingly complex and diverse ways value is created and exchanged,” he concluded. 

Pictured in the lead image is enza's team. Image courtesy enza.