
Senegalese Startup Kwely Secures Funding to Expand Made-in-Africa Products Globally
Senegalese startup Kwely has secured funding from Fuzé, a venture capital arm of leading investment group Digital Africa.
The Empower Africa Business Platform is Now Live !!!
Flend, a financial technology company focused on small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) lending, has secured $3 million in seed funding through a combination of equity and debt financing.
The funds will be used to expand its operations, grow its team, and strengthen its partnerships.
Founded by Ahmed Zaki, Nehal Helmy, and Saif Edeen El Bendari, Flend operates as a fully digital non-banking financial institution (NBFI) authorized by Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA).
The company provides SMEs with end-to-end digital lending services, covering onboarding, credit scoring, loan disbursement, and repayments — all executed through legally binding digital contracts.
The startup has developed more than 20 embedded partnerships and integrates its services into various platforms that cater to SMEs in sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, e-commerce, manufacturing, retail, and export.
The recent seed round was led by Egypt Ventures. Other investors include Camel Ventures, Sukna Ventures, Plus VC, Banque Misr, and family offices such as El Sewedy and Baalbaki.
The debt portion of the funding was provided by MSMEDA (Egypt’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency) and other local banks.
“This funding allows us to support SMEs directly within the platforms they use every day, making access to finance faster and easier,” said Ahmed Zaki, Flend’s CEO.
“The demand for our services is growing, and we are now prepared to scale further.”
The funding positions Flend to play a larger role in Egypt’s SME ecosystem, offering more businesses access to digital financial services tailored to their operational needs.
Senegalese startup Kwely has secured funding from Fuzé, a venture capital arm of leading investment group Digital Africa.
Founded in 2018, Raise is on a mission to help African startups to manage equity, seed rounds, legal compliance, and close deals faster.
Pan-African investment firm Janngo Capital has injected fresh capital into Jobzyn, a Moroccan recruitment-technology startup seeking to reshape how companies and candidates connect across Africa and the MENA region.