The news:
- Swypex, an Egyptian fintech providing corporate cards and management tools for businesses, has announced raising $4 million in seed funding.
- The seed round was led by Accel (formerly Accel Partners), a United States-based venture capital (VC) firm, with contributions from other investors, including Foundation Ventures, The Raba Partnership, and other angel investors.
- The two-year-old fintech will use the new capital injection to expand its platform’s business and technical capabilities.
Card usage in Egypt has increased by up to 14% in the last four years due to incentives provided by traditional banks and fintech startups, attracting millions of previously cash-only consumers.
While card adoption for personal use has increased in Egypt, corporate card adoption is declining as businesses are hesitant due to limited access and inadequate spending controls.
Previously, banks were the primary corporate card providers throughout the country. However, this is gradually changing as fintech companies, including Swypex, enter the market to increase adoption.
Per a United Nations Development Programme UNDP) report, about 3.8 million Egyptian businesses struggle with inefficient financial systems. To survive, these businesses resort to multiple disconnected payment methods, mostly cash-based.
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) launched the Instant Payment Network (IPN) on March 22, 2022, to reduce cash-based transactions and drive digital payment adoption. Leveraging this initiative, Swypex and other Egypt-based fintechs are introducing relevant financial services.
Ahmad Mokhtar, CEO of Swypex — who launched the startup with Tarek Mokhtar (CPO) and Sasan Hezarkhani (CTO) in 2022 — noted that the company only seems to be emerging now because it spent its first year acquiring necessary operating licences, complying with regulations, and partnering with payment processors and bank sponsors.
In December 2023, the company rolled out its beta version to 100 customers.
“We spoke to hundreds of different businesses, from startups to SMEs to large corporations, enterprises, and publicly listed companies, to understand what their challenges were at different stages,” Mokhtar expalined.
Some of the challenges the fintech uncovered included heavy reliance on cash, low transparency over their money, and archaic banking services. To solve these problems, Mokhtar claims that Swypex provides these businesses with an “unlimited” number of corporate cards for their employees.
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Businesses on the platform can set smart controls to manage spending. After every transaction, employees can upload receipts, invoices and spending details.
Aside from enterprise resource planning (ERP) and accounting software integrations, the fintech offers businesses a comprehensive overview of all expenses and spending.
In Egypt, Swypex competes with banks such as HSBC and National Bank. Across Africa, the all-in-one financial management platform competes with YC-backed startups like Boya and Bujeti.
Swypex, which offers each business its first three cards free of charge, makes its money from interchange fees, floats, and FX markups.
