Egyptian fintech startup Flend has closed a $3 million seed funding round to scale its embedded SME lending platform across Egypt’s underserved small business sector.
The round combined equity and debt financing, with Egypt Ventures leading the equity portion alongside Camel Ventures, Sukna Ventures, Plus VC, Banque Misr, and family offices El Sewedy and Baalbaki. MSMEDA and local banking partners provided debt financing. The breakdown of equity and debt was not disclosed.
Founded in 2022 by Ahmed Zaki, Nehal Helmy and Saif Edeen El Bendari, Flend claims to be Egypt’s first fully digital SME lending platform, licensed by the Financial Regulatory Authority as a Digital Non-Banking Financial Institution.
What makes Flend different from some other similar platforms in the region is its embedded financing model; it plugs directly into the platforms SMEs already use to run their businesses, like B2B marketplaces and supply chain systems.
This means SMEs can access financing within the flow of their daily operations, often triggered by routine activities like purchasing inventory or receiving orders. It removes the need for lengthy, manual approval processes and enables faster, more accurate credit decisions by using real-time operational data.
It already has 20 embedded partners across agri-food, healthcare, e-commerce, and manufacturing, allowing SMEs to access credit exactly when and where they need it.
The platform plans to inject a little over $20 million (EGP 1 billion) in working capital loans over the coming year, targeting Egypt’s $50 billion SME financing gap. The move aligns with broader regional efforts to digitize financial services and improve SME access to capital.
Ahmed Zaki, co-founder and CEO of Flend, said the company has seen growing demand for its product and is now ready to scale the platform with the support of this funding round.
Hasan Haider, Founder and Managing Partner at Plus VC, highlighted Flend’s regional significance: “Flend is solving a major regional challenge—making SME finance digital-first, embedded, and accessible.”
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