Acasia Ventures has led a USD seven-figure pre-seed round for Balad, a remittance fintech startup based in Egypt.
Other investors were Future Africa, V&R, Magic Fund, First Circle, Sunny Side, several family offices and Launch Africa.
Egypt is the fifth-largest remittance-receiving country that also has a significant unbanked population who rely on these funds as a primary source of income. And with transfer fees ranging between 4-11%, which can take up to a week to receive, the process is far from efficient.
The company aims to solve this problem and plans to use the funds to launch its remittance platform, hire new team members, complete integrations with its banking partner and obtain the necessary licenses.
The startup was established last year by Adham Azzam, Sally Asaad and Mohamed Assem, to offer reduced transfer fees and instant delivery of inward remittances in the form of Balad prepaid cards.