Khazna Wraps Up US$16 Million Pre-Series B Round
As it looks to Saudi for growth, the company wants to establish its presence in the region’s largest market by offering its customer-centric products to underserved segments.
Khazna, an Egypt-based financial super app offering digital financial services to underserved segments, has secured US$16 million in a pre-Series B funding round. The round drew participation from both new and existing investors, including Luxembourg-based SANAD Fund for MSME, Saudi Arabian anb Seed Fund (managed by anb Capital), Riyadh-based investment arm of Bank Aljazira Aljazira Capital, Riyadh-based venture capital (VC) firm Khwarizmi Ventures, Egyptian fintech-focused VC fund Nclude, the Ukrainian VC ICU Ventures, US-based VC Quona Capital, Austrian VC Speedinvest, and the Egyptian VC DisrupTech Ventures.
Khazna, which was launched in 2020 by Omar Saleh, Ahmed Wagueeh, and Fatma El Shenawy, provides digital financial services to middle- and low-income consumers who often lack access to traditional banking services.
The new funding will support Khazna’s growth strategy, which includes applying for a digital banking license in Egypt and advancing its expansion into Saudi Arabia. In an interview with Inc. Arabia, Saleh, the company’s co-founder and CEO, told us that Khazna will continue to focus on unbanked and underbanked segments as it expands. "Khazna has been fully focused on middle- and low-income consumers who typically are not targeted by traditional banking and financial institutions. Therefore, we are a pureplay impact-driven financial inclusion-focused technology company," he said.
In Egypt, Khazna’s application for a digital banking license is a “game-changer” according to Saleh, and represents an important step in the company’s growth strategy. Saleh described the license as essential for broadening the company’s product offerings and providing more comprehensive banking services. "Acquiring the license would further fortify Khazna’s position as a low-cost yet high-service quality provider of banking and financial services. Offering the full range of banking products digitally has the potential to revolutionize access to banking and financial inclusion in Egypt similar to what was done on the payments side over the last few years where we’ve seen the percentage of banked population grow from 33 percent to 70 percent, the introduction of the national payment network Meeza, the significant growth of POS acceptance and the introduction of the Instant Payment Network in Egypt,” he explained.
As it looks to Saudi for growth, the company wants to establish its presence in the region’s largest market by offering its customer-centric products to underserved segments. In KSA, Khazna has already hired a core team and secured strategic partnerships, with recent investments from anb Seed Fund, managed by anb Capital, Aljazira Capital, and Khwarizmi Ventures.
Khazna’s expansion into Saudi Arabia will entail adapting its services to meet local regulatory requirements and customer needs, explained Saleh. "Thanks to SAMA’s (Saudi Central Bank) visionary leadership, Saudi has a mature and extensive regulatory framework that allows Khazna to operate under the relevant licenses available in the Kingdom." He emphasized the importance of partnerships with entities that share a similar focus on underserved segments to enhance its customer experience and market reach.
Pictured on image: Khazna team. Image courtesy Khazna.
