Tech

Egyptian fintech startup Paymob extends Series B to $72m to pursue growth strategy

Egyptian fintech startup Paymob has extended its Series B round to US$72 million with US$22 million in new funding, which will enable it to pursue its growth strategy at home and in the wider MENA region.

Founded in 2015 by Islam Shawky, Alain El Hajj and Mostafa Menessy, Paymob is an infrastructure technology enabler providing payment solutions to empower digital financial service providers through mobile wallet technology.

Its omnichannel gateway offers more than 50 payment solutions and empowers close to 350,000 merchants with access to innovative financial services. It has expanded to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Oman.

Disrupt Africa reported in May 2022 Paymob had raised a US$50 million Series B funding round, and it has now extended that with US$22 million in additional capital. The extension round was led by EBRD Venture Capital with participation from Endeavor Catalyst. Existing investors PayPal Ventures, BII, FMO, A15, Nclude and Helios Digital Ventures also participated in the round.

The extension round follows Paymob’s continued profitability in its core market of Egypt, having recorded 6x revenue growth since the initial Series B funding in Q2 2022. The company’s strong financial position, plus its Series B extension proceeds, means it has ample resources to pursue its growth strategy at home and across MENA. 

“We are very excited by our strong prospects in Egypt – where we hold a market-leading position – and the significant traction experienced in the UAE since launching operations there. This funding will help Paymob fully capitalize on the momentum in our established markets, as we accelerate our GCC rollout. We remain committed to creating a cutting-edge infrastructure enabling SMEs across the region to thrive in the digital economy and are proud of our continued impact,” Shawky said.

Bruno Lusic of EBRD Venture Capital said he was “extremely excited” to support Paymob as it embarks on the next chapter in its journey to create a market leading, omni-channel, and multi-jurisdiction payment solutions provider in the MENA region. 

“The payments landscape in Egypt and the broader MENA region is hugely exciting and is seeing rapid growth as economies transition to non-cash payment methods. We are convinced that Paymob is uniquely positioned to capitalise on that trend with its advanced technology and strong management team,” he said.