Cairo-Based PALM Closes Seven-Figure Pre-Seed Round

Cairo-based fintech startup PALM has wrapped up an undisclosed seven-figure pre-seed funding round led by the pan‑Africa–focused venture capital (VC) firm 4DX Ventures, with participation from Abu Dhabi-based Plus VC and several international angel investors.

Founded by Mazen El Kerdany and Ahmed Ashour in Egypt in 2024, PALM is Egypt’s first fintech platform focused on incentivized, goal-based saving. The investment in thus set to help the company accelerate its user acquisition plans, and broaden its product offerings ahead of its public launch on August 1. 

In an interview with Inc. Arabia, El Kerdany, who is also the CEO of PALM, explained that the startup is addressing a critical gap in the Egyptian market—one where traditional saving methods no longer align with the needs of younger generations navigating modern financial pressures. “Today, Egyptians often funnel their savings into a single asset—gold, real estate, or time deposits—while existing solutions do not tie those funds to real-life goals [and] offer little guidance on how to allocate savings optimally,” El Kerdany said. “Millennials and Gen Z face slimmer margins for error and growing pressure to balance today’s lifestyle with tomorrow’s needs. They need a proactive roadmap for personal finance—one that sets clear milestones for education, marriage, or travel, optimizes spending without sacrifice, and replaces the old 'earn–spend–save what’s left' formula with a deliberate, goal-driven strategy.” 

El Kerdany explains that through the PALM app, users are offered a structured saving experience that combines traditional investment tools with behavioral nudges. The platform curates asset allocations across fixed income, equities, and precious metals to help users reach various life goals, including education and healthcare, as well as making major purchases like home appliances and electronics. 

“For that, PALM offers a seamless and personalized saving experience that’s built on goal-based saving, incentivized savings, and embedded investment,” El Kerdany said. “We curate optimal asset allocations for each milestone—education, healthcare, marriage, travel, major purchases—and provide a clear console where users can set targets and track progress in real time. Through behavioral nudges and rewards, we help users adopt disciplined financial habits, minimizing out-of-pocket spending, maximizing purchase power, and transforming consistency into a sustainable lifestyle. By linking every pound saved directly to its future spending purpose, we make each deposit purposeful and ensure users get the most out of their savings in a seamless, end-to-end journey.” 

PALM co-founders Mazen El Kerdany and Ahmed Ashour. El Kerdany brings a background in asset management to the table, having previously overseen portfolios worth around US$2 billion at firms such as EFG Hermes, Beltone Financial Holding, and Post for Investment (the investment arm of Egypt Post). Ashour, meanwhile, comes from a technology and finance background, with experience at Amazon, Goldman Sachs, and fintech startups across EMEA and the US. Image courtesy PALM.

According to El Kerdany, PALM's key proposition, which is embedding investment directly into the spending process, will help users turn saving into a seamless part of daily life. “Embedding investment into spending on PALM follows a simple, three-step flow," he explained. "First, users set a clear goal in the app; next, every eligible payment is tracked and funds are contributed and allocated by our licensed investment team into strategies aligned with that goal; and finally, once milestones are reached, exclusive discounts or rewards are automatically applied—online or in-store—through the merchant dashboard we provide to our partners. Behaviorally, this is reinforced by real-time progress feedback and congratulatory nudges at each step—turning disciplined investing into a natural part of smart spending.” 

Looking back on his entrepreneurial journey, El Kerdany shared that building PALM came with a set of challenges—chief among them assembling a team that could bridge the gap between technical expertise and customer-centric design thinking. “One unexpected challenge was assembling a fusion team that combined deep financial expertise with a genuine customer-centric perspective and the requisite technical skills,” he said. “To address this, we brought together experts in product management, behavioral design, portfolio strategy, engineering, operations, legal, and finance, and established close collaboration with iterative feedback loops. This fusion of talents enabled us to deliver PALM’s intuitive goal-tracking interface, robust asset-allocation engine, and seamless embedded-investment functionality.” 

With fresh capital in hand, PALM’s immediate priorities are centered on ramping up user acquisition through targeted campaigns and referral incentives, broadening product use cases, and deepening strategic partnerships with banks, telcos, and merchants. “The focus would be on accelerating user acquisition via targeted campaigns and referral incentives ahead of our August 1 public launch, broadening product use cases; for example launching employer-sponsored plans and new goal categories, and deepening strategic partnerships with banks, telcos, and merchants to make PALM the embedded savings solution inside existing payment and billing flows,” El Kerdany added. 

Looking ahead, PALM is eyeing expansion across similar markets. “We plan to roll out in markets around the Mediterranean that share similar financial-inclusion gaps and cultural affinities for goal-driven saving,” El Kerdany revealed. “Our model—combining curated asset allocations, behavioral rewards, and merchant integrations—translates well to neighboring countries with under-served digital savings segments.” And while reflecting on the broader fintech landscape, El Kerdany offered advice for founders pursuing similar goals in emerging markets.

“Understand your regulatory environment, and ensure compliance," he said. "Then, immerse yourself in local saving habits and design culturally and behaviorally tailored features—what works in Egypt won’t simply port to Pakistan or Peru. Finally, embed your solution into users’ existing financial routines rather than asking them to change… or plug into PALM’s regulator-approved platform and go live faster with our proven, locally tuned tech!"

Pictured in the lead image is PALM co-founder and CEO Mazen El Kerdany. Image courtesy PALM.