Egyptian fintech company MNT-Halan is now indisputably the best-funded startup in the the country after securing US$200 million in equity funding, plus a further US$140 million in debt.
Having begun life as a ride-hailing app for two- and three-wheeler vehicles back in 2018, MNT-Halan has morphed into a super app of sorts, and in the process become Egypt’s largest and fastest-growing lender to the unbanked.
The startup’s proprietary fintech ecosystem connects customers, vendors and micro-enterprises through its consumer facing app, merchant app, distributed lending and payment processing software, and payment solutions, as well as offering services such as ride-hailing and logistics.
Disrupt Africa reported in September of 2021 the company had secured a US$120 million investment by major global and regional growth investors, and it has now banked a further US$200 million in equity capital from Chimera Abu Dhabi, a private investment firm managing a diversified portfolio of listed and unlisted equities on both local and regional markets.
The investment comes in exchange for over 20 per cent of the company, with MNT-Halan also in advanced stages of discussions with leading international investors to raise a further US$60 million of primary capital. Following the completion of these investments, MNT-Halan’s valuation will exceed US$1 billion.
The company also announced two securitisations totaling US$140 million through subsidiaries Tasaheel Microfinance Company (Tasaheel) and Halan Consumer Finance (Halan) with Commercial International Bank (CIB), Egypt’s largest private sector bank. Tasaheel has securitised US$100 million of its loan book in the second issuance of its securitisation program. Halan Consumer Finance has securitised US$40 million of its loan book in its first securitisation since its start of operations in 2021. Both issuances were over-subscribed.
According to MNT-Halan, the offerings reflect the high quality, diversity, and granularity of the combined securitised loan books, consisting of 246,000 contracts and a robust cash pay-back ability. The proceeds will fuel the company’s growing loan book, considering the increasing demand in light of the current inflationary environment. MNT-Halan has capacity to further securitise up to US$250 million in its securitisation programme.
MNT-Halan founder and CEO Mounir Nakhla said as one of the region’s premier and most progressive investors, Chimera Abu Dhabi brought a unique and dedicated understanding of its business.
“Having the backing of Chimera Abu Dhabi is of significant support to the execution of our strategy. The timing of the transaction is also a testament to our ability to significantly increase our revenues and open new revenue streams while growing our bottom line, despite the macro-economic situation,” he said. “I am excited for what lies ahead as we continue to grow both organically and inorganically by offering cutting edge financial products and services locally and internationally to empower the underserved.”
“We are thrilled to be part of Egypt’s greatest fintech success story. MNT-Halan’s upward trajectory and momentum reflect the management team’s realisation 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,” said Seif Fikry, CEO of Chimera Abu Dhabi.
