MNT-Halan, Egypt’s first unicorn and fastest-growing fintech startup, has raised a US$130 million securitisation, one of five tranches of securitised bond issuances this year that have so far banked it over US$400 million.
Founded in 2018, MNT-Halan was created to digitally bank the unbanked and substitute cash with electronic solutions. The MNT-Halan digital ecosystem includes small and micro business lending, payments, consumer finance, and e-commerce. With more than 1.5 million quarterly active users, MNT-Halan has served more than seven million customers in Egypt.
The company has now announced that it has secured fine tranches of securitised bond issuances this year, the latest at US$130 million through CI Capital, All issuances were over-subscribed, and they mean MNT-Halan has raised over US$400 million so far this year. This gives it unicorn status, with a valuation of over US$1 billion. It is targeting another US$150 million by year end.
MNT-Halan said the appetite for these issuances reflected the “resilience” of its business model, “the high quality of its loan book, and a robust pay-back ability of the underlying loan book”.
“We are seeing very strong demand for off-balance sheet funding as we enter 2024. This is primarily a result of the high quality of our underwriting. This gives us great comfort as our loan book of US$650 million is growing at four-five per cent month-over-month. We are excited to continue launching new digital financial products in Egypt and beyond,” said founder and CEO Mounir Nakhla.
All the securitizations have been rated Prime 1 for the short-term tranches, while the longer term tranches varied between A and A+ by MERIS (Middle East Rating & Investor Service). In addition to CIB and CI Capital, participating regional and local financial institutions included Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, Al Baraka Bank, Arab African International Bank, Arab African Investment Management, Midbank, Misr Asset Management, SAIB Bank, ABC Bank, Arab International Bank, Banque Misr and the Housing and Development Bank.
