Egypt’s marketplace for trucks, Trella, has raised $3.5 million from newly-launched private equity fund Avanz Capital Egypt.

The Avanz Capital fund, launched in 2022, is a subsidiary of Squared Capital International, and manages a couple of funds, one focuses on investing in startups and SMEs and the other is aimed at supporting low-carbon projects.

Trella was founded in 2018 by Omar Hagrass, Ali El Atrash, Pierre Saad and Muhammad El Garem. It connects shippers with trucks in real time.

Besides Egypt, it says it also has operations in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Last year, Trella also secured $6 million in debt funding from ALMA Sustainable Finance (ALMA) and the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Avanz Capital Egypt, a subsidiary of I Squared Capital International, is making significant strides in expanding its investment portfolio with a multi-faceted approach. The company has recently announced its support for the logistics startup, Trella, alongside the launch of two new funds and a commitment to investing in existing funds and companies.

Avanz Capital Egypt has strategically invested approximately $3.5 million in Trella, a promising logistics startup operating in the field of logistics services. This investment not only demonstrates Avanz Capital Egypt’s confidence in Trella’s potential but also establishes the company as a key player in the flourishing logistics sector. With this partnership, Avanz Capital Egypt aims to leverage Trella’s innovative solutions and contribute to the growth and success of the logistics industry.

In addition to backing Trella, Avanz Capital Egypt is launching two new funds, further diversifying its investment portfolio. The first fund focuses on supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs), aiming to provide much-needed capital and resources to fuel their growth. By nurturing these enterprises, Avanz Capital Egypt aims to contribute to the overall development and expansion of the Egyptian market. The first closing of Avanz Manara Fund in March collected financial obligations of approximately 905 million pounds, with about 25% of the amount already paid.

The second fund sets its sights on low-carbon projects, intending to issue “carbon credits” under the name “EGYCOP.” With an initial target of raising one billion pounds, this fund emphasizes Avanz Capital Egypt’s commitment to sustainable investments and the transition to a greener economy. By capitalizing on opportunities in the low-carbon sector, Avanz Capital Egypt seeks to drive positive environmental impact while generating attractive returns for investors.

Beyond the launch of new funds, Avanz Capital Egypt is actively exploring opportunities to invest in existing funds and companies. The company aims to identify potential investments that align with its strategic objectives and have the potential for growth and value creation. Avanz Capital Egypt’s investment strategy encompasses various sectors, including healthcare, logistics, green economy, renewable energy, and defense, among others.

Avanz Capital’s parent company, “I Squared Global Capital,” manages assets worth over $13 billion in 130 companies worldwide. The company targets investments in funds and companies in startup and emerging markets, with a particular focus on Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

Through its backing of Trella, launch of new funds, and investment in existing funds and companies, the firm showcases its comprehensive approach to investment. By diversifying its portfolio across different sectors and supporting both emerging and established enterprises, Avanz Capital Egypt seeks to generate attractive returns while contributing to the overall economic development of Egypt.

As the firm expands its investment activities, the company aims to make a positive impact on the Egyptian market and position itself as a trusted partner for businesses seeking growth and investment opportunities. With its dynamic approach and strategic investments, Avanz Capital Egypt continues to play a vital role in driving innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable economic growth in Egypt and beyond.

Source: Wamda

Egyptian fintech and e-commerce ecosystem MNT-Halan has raised up to $400 million in equity and debt financing from local and global investors as it continues to serve underbanked and unbanked customers in the North African country.

The round includes $260 million in equity financing and $140 million through two securitized bond issuances secured within the past year, investments that will now see MNT-Halan command a post-money valuation of about $1 billion.

A large chunk of the equity, about $200 million, was provided by Abu Dhabi–based Chimera Investments. The investment firm invested that amount in exchange for 20% of the Egyptian digital lender and e-commerce platform, which is also in advanced stages of raising $60 million in additional capital in the coming weeks.

Last week, the IFC disclosed that it was investing $40 million in the company, but MNT-Halan declined to comment; it’s expected that the remaining financing will come from existing shareholders.

In a statement, MNT-Halan says the investments “demonstrate continued confidence in its value proposition, management team, and superior technology.” The company also plans to expand internationally after solid growth in Egypt and progress on the swap agreement between super app Halan and Netherlands-based microlending platform MNT Investments.

In 2021, Halan, operating a digital wallet that offered bill payments, e-commerce and ride-hailing as well as micro, nano and consumer loans, entered into a swap agreement with MNT Investments (a microlending platform operating in Egypt with roots dating back to 2010) to provide financing solutions to the underbanked and unbanked. The leveraged buyout deal, which was formed in 2018, saw both companies adopt a new name: MNT-Halan. Headquartered in Egypt, its digital ecosystem connects consumers, merchants and micro-enterprises with business loans, consumer finance, payments, BNPL and e-commerce offerings, all backed by Neuron, its proprietary technology.

Last year, MNT-Halan raised $120 million from private equity firms, including Apis Growth Fund II, Development Partners International (DPI) and Lorax Capital Partners, and venture capitalists such as Middle East Venture Partners, Endeavor Catalyst and DisruptTech. At the time, it had served over 4 million and disbursed more than $1.7 billion worth of loans since inception.

CEO Mounir Nakhla, who founded the company with Ahmed Mohsen, said MNT-Halan continued where it left off and is presently Egypt’s largest lender to the unbanked: Total loans disbursed now exceed $2 billion per the company’s website (MNT-Halan issued loans north of $65 million last month).

On average, businesses access $1,000 worth of loans while paying a 25% annual interest on the platform; Nakhla noted the fintech maintains a healthy nonperforming loan ratio without disclosing its figure.

The two securitizations, totaling $140 million, that MNT-Halan secured last year are behind its impressive lending operations. The fintech’s wholly owned subsidiary, Tasaheel, managed to secure these funds locally via a securitization program with the Commercial International Bank (CIB), Egypt’s largest private sector bank.

It can further securitize up to $250 million, the company said. In addition to CIB, participating regional and local financial institutions include Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, Al Baraka Bank and National Bank of Egypt.

It’s been demonstrated that lending is MNT-Halan’s primary business and main revenue generator; however, what’s interesting about the company is how it has layered a digital ecosystem of products, including e-commerce, FMCG delivery and mobile POS payments that feed its lending operations.

To paint a picture: Last June, the five-year-old company acquired Talabeyah, a B2B e-commerce platform that offers FMCG supplies directly to small merchants and retailers with next-day delivery. Nakhla tells me that this acquisition has allowed MNT-Halan to provide loans to these merchants or grocers, who then, in an agency banking play, act as mobile agents to individual customers who frequent their shops.

The company also wants to extend grocery shopping — in addition to other e-commerce stores selling electronics and personal items — to individual customers.

“We’re capitalizing on our existing distribution through million-plus customers and adding services within our ecosystem,” said the chief executive. “If you need a loan for your business, we’re 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’ll 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.”

MNT-Halan lends to single small business owners or individuals who need lending to manage their businesses.

According to the Egyptian startup, its digital ecosystem serves more than 5 million customers in Egypt, of which 3.5 million are financial clients and over 2 million are borrowers. The startup plans to launch a debit card for its customers by the end of March.

Nakhla noted that due to the company’s focus on commerce and lending, it’s had to shut down its ride-hailing operations, one of Halan’s core offerings — before the merger — which mostly lagged international mobility outfits like Uber, Careem and inDriver. Meanwhile, MNT-Halan faces competition from Khazna, Paymob and MaxAB across its other product offerings.

“In some sectors, we do have competition. But in the most important sector, we’re the largest, and no one is as advanced in technology or creates a fully-fledged ecosystem for the underbanked.

I think this is where we differentiate ourselves from any other player in the market,” said the chief executive when asked about competing players in Egypt, while adding that the company is exploring a couple of mergers and acquisitions to consolidate its position in the country’s fintech and e-commerce space.

For MNT-Halan to raise this sum in the current venture capital climate, it had to increase its revenues and open new streams, Nakhla noted in his statement. The fintech claims to have made over $300 million in revenue last year, representing a modest 3.4x multiples on its unicorn valuation which aligns with the present public market calculations as previously reported by TechCrunch.

On a related note, MNT-Halan is Egypt’s only private billion-dollar company; payments giant Fawry achieved that valuation after going public in 2019 (although it’s well off the mark now).

“We are thrilled to be part of Egypt’s greatest fintech success story,” said Seif Fikry, CEO of Chimera Abu Dhabi, in a statement. MNT-Halan’s upward trajectory and momentum reflect the management team’s realization of its extraordinary vision to transform a high-touch business by seamlessly infusing an unparalleled proprietary tech platform while increasing product depth for its target customer segment.”

Source: Techcrunch

Egypt-based esports platform GBarena has acquired Tunisia’s Galactech for $15 million, in the form of a share swap.

This acquisition supports GBArena’s plans to expand into the GCC, including Saudi Arabia, with further expansion plans in the Middle Eastern esports industry. GBarena will leverage the on-ground presence and capabilities that Galactech has in Riyadh, Dubai, and Tunisia.

Founded in 2016 by Mustafa Zaza and Bishoy Mesdary, GBarena aims to create an online gaming community connecting gamers with tournament organisers and providing them with a platform where they can manage their tournaments through fully automated processes, while Galactech was founded in 2019 by Houcem Maiza and Houssem Zouaghi and now has over 200,000 active users.

Maiza, Galactech’s CEO, will be joining GBArena as co-CEO.

In October 2021, GBarena raised a six-figure pre-Series A funding round, to fuel its expansion plans.

Press release:

GBarena, the leading Middle East esports platform, today announced an agreement to acquire Tunisia-based Galactech, the gaming leader in North Africa alongside a significant presence in the GCC. The transaction expands GBArena’s footprint into the burgeoning North African market and signals their intentions to expand further including throughout the GCC.

Valued at around $15 million, in the form of a share swap, it marks the second Tunisian acquisition this month following Instadeep's whopping ₤562 million transactions by BioNTech.

This marks a milestone transaction for GBarena in anticipation of closing its Series A later this year, with participation from investors in the US, Singapore and the Mena region.

This acquisition comes in alignment with GBArena’s planned expansion into GCC, including Saudi Arabia. With the entry into North Africa executed via this transaction, the focus will continue on further expansion in the Middle Eastern esports industry. GBArena will leverage the on-ground presence and capabilities that Galactech has in Riyadh, Dubai and Tunis.

Galactech, founded in 2019, has been making waves in the North African gaming scene since its launch in 2019. With over 200,000 active users, they have become one of the most popular gaming platforms in North Africa and beyond in the region.

GBarena CEO Samer Wagdy expressed his enthusiasm for this new venture: “Our goal has always been to provide our users with an unparalleled esports experience, no matter where they're located in the world. With our acquisition of Galactech, we can now ensure that our users from North Africa will have access to identical features and content they have come to expect from us while providing them with extensive opportunities for growth and development within the esports community." Wagdy also emphasised that this acquisition is one step forward towards achieving the company’s vision, which is to be the leading aggregator in MENA, serving all stakeholders in the industry.

“We’re very happy to be taking a step forward to fulfil the vision we started embarking on the journey with. Under GBArena’s ownership, Galactech will be able to tap into both GBArena’s established user base and resources to strengthen its presence in the region,” mentioned Houcem Maiza, Galactech’s CEO, who’ll be joining GBArena as Co-CEO.

With today’s GenZ driving the region’s $3.56 billion industry, GBA’s youth-driven leadership is set in stone to build the engagement needed to foster communities across the Middle East and North Africa. Viewing today’s growth opportunity in markets like KSA and UAE, with injections of over $40 billion on infrastructural developments, a lot is expected to shape up in Mena’s gaming ecosystem in 2023. Upgrades to web3 & cloud gaming will be revolutionising the local experience very soon, reaching an expected 85.76 million gamers by 2025.

“We are thrilled to announce that with this transaction GBarena is joining forces with Galactech, creating a regional powerhouse in the thriving gaming industry," said GBarena’s chairman, Ahmed Abou Doma.

He added that "After careful analysis, we both realised it is a perfect complementary strategic fit for both companies. It will allow us to combine our strengths and resources maximising value creation and providing our gamers, fans and partners and all stakeholders with an unparalleled experience. We look forward to taking esports in the region to the next level and cementing our position as the regional leader in the industry.”

Shehata & Partners is acting as the legal advisor and Youssef Salem is acting as the financial advisor on the transaction.

source: Wamda

أعلنت مؤسسة صناديق الاستثمار في المناخ "CIF"، التي تعد واحدة من أكبر الصناديق متعددة الأطراف في العالم التي تنشط في مجال حلول المناخ في البلدان النامية "CIF’s Nature, People, and Climate (CIF NPC) "، عن البدء بتطبيق مبادرتها لتمويل المشروعات القائمة على الطبيعة والهادفة للمساهمة في إيجاد لحلول للأزمة المناخية التي أعلنت عنها في شهر يونيو/حزيران 2022.

وكانت مؤسسة CIF قد أعلنت عن المجموعة الأولى من الدول النامية التي ستتلقى دعماً بقيمة 350 مليون دولار، مقدمة من إيطاليا والمملكة المتحدة ودول أخرى، وكانت مصر قد فازت عبر برنامجها "نُوَفِّي" الذي تقدمت به وزارة التعاون الدولي المصرية بالتعاون مع البنك الأوروبي لإعادة الأعمار والتنمية، وبنك التنمية الأفريقي، ومجموعة البنك الدولي، بالمركز الأول على مستوى دول منطقة شمال إفريقيا، وأوروبا، كما صنف برنامج "نُوَفِّي" من بين أفضل 10 برامج من إجمالي 55 برنامج تقدمت به دول نامية- تمثل نحو ثلث مجموعة الدول النامية في العالم- لغرض الاستفادة من مباردة مؤسسة صناديق الاستثمار في المناخ "CIF". وستعمل المبادرة في مصر على دعم الزراعة المستدامة على طول نهر النيل.

كذلك ضمت المجموعة الأولى التي ستتلقى تمويلاً إلى جانب مصر كل من جمهورية الدومينيكان، وفيجي، وكينيا، ومنطقة حوض نهر زامبيزي في إفريقيا، التي تضم زامبيا وملاوي وموزمبيق وناميبيا وتنزانيا.

وجاء اختيار مجلس CIF للبلدان الأربعة والمنطقة المذكورين أعلاه، بناءً على تقييمات الخبراء المستقلين حول إمكانات المرشحين للتغيير التحولي، وتعبئة القطاع الخاص، ومقاييس أخرى. وستبدأ البلدان المختارة في إعداد خطط استثمارية مقابل التمويل المتاح، حيث من المتوقع أن يبدأ التنفيذ الخطط الاستثمارية في وقت مبكر من العام المقبل.

وبعد هذا الإعلان تقدمت 55 بلداً من مختلف مناطق العالم بطلب رسومي للحصول على تمويل من مؤسسة صناديق الاستثمار في المناخ، وتمثل تلك البلدان مجموعة سكانية تضم أكثر من ملياري شخص.

ومن الجدير بالذكر أن الشركات الناشئة ومبادرات رواد الأعمال التي تنشط في مجال إيجاد حلول بديلة ومستدامة للطاقة والتكنولوجيا الزراعية والغذائية قد حظيت باهتمام كبير في السنوات القليلة الماضية في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا، حيث وصلت حجم الاستثمارات التي تلقتها لأكثر من المليار دولار. ومؤخراً تلقت شركة Cleanteach Yrllow Door Energy لتكنولوجيا الطاقة، والتي تتخذ من الإمارات العربية المتحدة مركزاً لها، تمويلاً بلغت قيمته نحو 400 مليون دولار.

للمزيد من المعلومات عن مباردة مؤسسة صناديق الاستثمار في المناخ CIF، يمكن زيادة الموقع لمؤسسة CIF عبر هذا الرابط.