• Flend raised USD 3M in blended equity and debt to expand embedded digital lending for Egypt’s underserved SMEs.
• The FRA-regulated platform enables online lending through digital contracts, integrating directly with platforms that serve SME supply chains.
• With 20+ embedded partners, Flend plans to inject EGP 1 billion in working capital loans across strategic sectors within a year.
  

Flend

Egypt’s SME financing platform, Flend, raised USD 3 million in a seed funding round compromising both equity and debt. 

The equity round was led by Egypt Ventures, with participation from Camel Ventures, Sukna Ventures, Plus  VC, and Banque Misr. It also saw participation from regional family offices including El Sewedy and Baalbaki. On the debt side, Flend secured facilities from MSMEDA, as well as other local banking partners

“Access to SME financing remains a challenge across Egypt and the wider region, limiting the growth of  one of the most important segments of the economy. Flend is addressing this gap by making lending more  embedded, digital-first, and truly accessible,” said Hasan Haider, Founder and Managing Partner at Plus VC.

SMEs

With the newly raised capital, it aims to accelerate its expansion of embedded financing through  partnerships with digital platforms serving SMEs. Additionally, it aims to expand its team, and deepen its tech infrastructure to serve Egypt’s USD 50 billion SME financing gap.  

 “This funding round allows us to deliver  financing where SMEs actually do business — embedded directly into the platforms and sectors that drive  Egypt’s productive economy. We’ve seen a significant surge in demand and are excited to  scale our impact—aiming to inject EGP 1 billion into the SME sector within our first year, with a focus on  short-term working capital loans,” said Ahmed Zaki, Co-Founder and CEO of Flend.

Flend is a  tech-enabled, fully regulated digital financing platform that serves SMEs, offering short-term working capital through a fully digital process. It is fully digital from onboarding and credit scoring to disbursement and collections.

Flend got licensed by the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) as a Digital Non-Banking Financial Institution (Digital NBFI) dedicated to SME lending. This allowed it to be legally empowered to issue loans  entirely online using digitally binding contracts and e-signatures. 

It enables embedded lending by integrating directly with digital platforms that serve SME supply chains. Moreover, it aims to improve reach, reduce acquisition costs, and  leverage richer data for better credit decisions. 

“Across sectors, access to capital for small  and medium enterprises remains a persistent challenge. Flend’s mission to digitally transform SME  financing in Egypt to make access to finance easier, faster, and more inclusive will be critical to unlocking  value across industries.”

Abdelrahman Mansour, CEO of Egypt Ventures

Additionally, it finances SMEs directly in sectors such as healthcare distribution, agri-food,  manufacturing, e-commerce, retail, and local exporters. This is in alignment with Egypt’s national development goals.