Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt-based fintech and e-commerce ecosystem MNT-Halan has raised $400 million in equity and debt financing from local and global investors, with a valuation of $1 billion.

The funding round consists of equity financing worth $260 million, part of which was provided by UAE’s Chimera Investments, while the remaining $140 million was secured from two securitised bond issuances.

Founded in 2018 by Mounir Nakhla and Ahmed Mohsen, the company will use the proceeds of the investment to expand its footprint worldwide, according to a press release.

The platform's digital ecosystem provides consumers, merchants, and micro-enterprises with business loans, consumer finance, and payments. It also offers them buy now, pay later (BNPL) and e-commerce services.

The startup also aims to scale up grocery shopping as well as other e-commerce stores selling electronics and personal items to individual clients.

This followed progress on the swap deal between startup Halan and Netherlands-based microlending platform MNT Investments, under which the two entities adopted a new name, MNT-Halan.

“We are capitalising on our existing distribution through million-plus customers and adding services within our ecosystem”, Founder and CEO of MNT-Halan, Nakhla, said in an interview with TechCrunch.

He noted: “If you need a loan for your business, we are going to give you one; you need a loan for consumption, we’re going to give you one; you need to order groceries or buy a mobile phone on our platform, we will deliver it to you via our e-commerce stores.”

“Also, we can give them the credit they can use to make all of these purchases within the ecosystem,” the CEO highlighted.

In 2021, MNT-Halan secured nearly $120 million from private equity firms, including Apis Growth Fund II, Development Partners International (DPI), and Lorax Capital Partners.