MidLyr Raises $2.5M Pre-Seed to Revolutionise Bank Risk Management with AI

3 min
MidLyr, an Egyptian-led fintech, secured USD 2,5 million in pre-seed funding.
Co-founders Wael Elsahhar and Ruochen Ren aim to modernise banks' risk and compliance systems.
Their AI infrastructure platform seeks to automate banking processes while maintaining compliance.
MidLyr plans to expand in Egypt and the Middle East, hiring engineers and compliance experts.
Success could transform traditional financial operations throughout the region.
It’s been quite the year for AI-driven fintechs in the region, and one of the names that just popped up on the radar is MidLyr, an Egyptian-led platform that’s rethinking how financial institutions manage risk and operations. The company has secured a solid USD 2.5 million in pre-seed funding, with Silicon Badia leading the round, joined by investors like Wedbush Ventures, Hustle Fund, DCG, and Story Ventures. Not bad for a team still in its early chapters, right?
MidLyr, co-founded by Egyptian-born Wael Elsahhar and Ruochen Ren, is building what it calls an AI infrastructure platform. In plain English, it’s trying to bring order and intelligence to the messy, old-school systems that banks use to oversee compliance, operations, and risk. As Namek Zu’bi of Silicon Badia pointed out, the firm’s strength lies in mixing strong technical know-how with a clear grasp of financial realities—a rare combo in this space.
Now, if you’ve ever had to deal with how rigid banks can be—layer after layer of manual control, forms, and policies that make even a single approval a bit of a faff—you’ll see why what MidLyr is doing matters. The company’s goal is to align AI agents with real-world financial regulations and internal policies, essentially helping banks automate without losing that all-important sense of compliance. Sounds spot on for a sector that’s still wary of fully letting robots run the show.
Wael Elsahhar, who also serves as CEO, said the mission is all about giving **bank operators intelligent and compliant tools** so they can serve customers better while keeping risks low. That might sound like management-speak, but honestly, it could make life a lot easier for countless teams drowning in manual checks.
With fresh capital in the bank, MidLyr plans to speed up product development, deepen its ties with design partner banks, and grow its presence across Egypt and the Middle East. The team’s also on a bit of a hiring spree—seeking engineers, data scientists, and compliance experts. Elsahhar mentioned that the startup’s looking to tap into the pool of local talent across the region. And believe it or not, he reckons that the MENA’s depth in engineering and data science could be a key long-term advantage.
At Arageek, we’ve seen time and again how regional founders like Elsahhar are taking ideas born in Cairo or Amman and turning them into platforms that compete globally. I still remember a chat with a young fintech team in Giza who struggled to convince old-guard bankers to test a new API… and now? Those same institutions are desperate to digitalise. It just goes to show that persistence—and a bit of vision—can turn scepticism into partnerships.
Of course, building AI tools for banks isn’t exactly a walk in the park. Every idea has to tick a hundred regulatory boxes before it sees daylight. But if MidLyr gets it right, it could help rewrite how financial teams across the region handle daily operations. I reckon that’s worth keeping an eye on—definately.
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