Egyptian lending startup Qardy has announced it has successfully secured a seven-figure US dollar pre-seed round of investment to help it expand.
Founded in July 2022, Qardy facilitates loans for MSMEs, with founder Abdel Aziz Abdel Nabi saying the startup’s goal was to be the “Amazon of lending”.
“Qardy aims to cut the waiting time to get a loan from nine months to around 18 days. Since the current lending process is manual, it takes so much time, and it mainly focuses on personal connections, making it very tough for MSMEs to go through the process,” he told Disrupt Africa in July 2023.
Since its launch, Qardy has established itself as a trusted partner for MSMEs and financial institutions, and now has over 1,000 corporate clients on its platform. It has executed over EGP550 million (US$12 million) in loan transactions.
Its seven-figure US dollar pre-seed round featured 500 Global, White Field Ventures and Vastly Valuable Ventures, as well as various angel investors.
“We are thrilled to have reached this important milestone in our journey,” said Tamer El-Manasterly, COO of Qardy. “The support and trust of our investors have been instrumental in driving our growth and enabling us to expand our reach and impact in the market. This investment will allow us to further enhance our services, as well as accelerate our plans for expansion in Saudi Arabia and the region.”
500 Global expressed its belief in Qardy’s mission to democratise access to financial services.
“We are thrilled to support Qardy in their journey towards empowering businesses with accessible and efficient financial solutions. We are confident in their ability to drive positive change in the fintech sector,” said Amal Dokhan, managing partner at 500 Global.
