Flend Secures $3M to Revolutionise SME Lending in Egypt’s Fintech Boom

Malaz Madani

Last updated 22-07-2025

3 min

Flend, an Egyptian fintech, secures $3 million to ease SME loan access using digital solutions.

The funding combines equity from Egypt Ventures and renowned investors, plus debt from local banks.

Flend aims to provide EGP 1 billion in working capital loans within twelve months.

The company partners with platforms in diverse sectors, embedding services where SMEs operate.

Flend tackles Egypt's $50 billion SME financing gap, offering a crucial digital-first solution.

It looks as though Egypt’s fintech scene has picked up more steam—this time with Flend, a digital platform focused on helping small and medium businesses get loans more easily. The company has just clinched $3 million in seed funding, split between equity and debt, and the investors’ list reads like a who’s who of Egypt’s venture community. Egypt Ventures took the lead on the equity bit, with support from outfits like Camel Ventures, Sukna Ventures, Plus VC and Banque Misr. Some well-known family offices—El Sewedy and Baalbaki—also jumped in. On the debt side, Flend managed to bring on MSMEDA along with a handful of local banks.

Now, for those not already knee-deep in fintech jargon (I know, it can be a bit of a faff sometimes), Flend’s licenced by Egypt’s FRA as a digital non-banking financial institution. What that really means is that the whole process—from getting businesses onboard, working out credit scores, all the way down to paying out the funds and then getting repaid—happens completely online, thanks to legally binding digital contracts. No paperwork mountains, no standing in dodgy bank queues on a boiling Cairo afternoon.

If you’ve been in and around the startup space like us at Arageek, you’ll know how tricky it can be for SMEs to raise working capital—more so if you’re in sectors like agri-food or retail, where cashflow’s forever playing hard to get. Flend’s come up with an answer: it’s teamed up with over 20 different platforms that directly serve SME supply chains in everything from healthcare and e-commerce to manufacturing and export. The plan? Roll out a whopping EGP 1 billion worth of working capital loans through the next twelve months. Considering Egypt’s SME financing gap hovers around $50 billion, this sounds like a spot on starting point, though hardly a fix-all.

Ahmed Zaki, Flend’s co-founder and CEO, summed it up quite neatly: “This round allows us to finance SMEs where they do business—within the platforms that drive Egypt’s economy.” It’s a smart move, embedding services where users already spend their time. And Hasan Haider from Plus VC couldn’t help but chime in, calling Flend’s approach to digital-first, accessible SME finance “a solution to a major regional challenge.”

Frankly, I reckon digital lending done right could save a lot of entrepreneurs from tearing their hair out over old-school loan applications. On the flip side, the usual hurdles stay in play—market awareness, regulatory hoops, and, well… I mean, you can’t quite swap out relationships overnight in the finance world. But if you ask me, bold steps like these matter. Even though I’m not a fan of buzzwords, “digital-first” makes a difference when you’re staring down a paperwork disaster. So, while Flend’s journey is just heating up, there’s reason to be cautiously optimistic. Here’s hoping more MENA startups can ride this wave—typos and all!

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