Nexta has announced that it has received an investment of $3 million from the digital financial services provider e-finance. This brings the total amount of funding that the company has received since its launch the previous year to $5.2 million. In March of this year, Nexta also completed pre-Seed funding round with a total amount of $2.2 million.
The round was led by an Egyptian fintech firm called Disruptech and included participation from investors all around the world. The recently acquired funds are expected to “hold the startup over” until its official launch, which is expected to happen in the next few weeks.
The news comes a week after the company’s primary competitor, Telda, made a similar declaration on the formal debut of its service following the acquisition of a digital license from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and the conclusion of a $20 million seed fundraising round. Klivvr, which is owned by Orascom Financial Holding and is a subsidiary of the company, is also a player in the country’s new digital banking market (OFH).
Read also: Egypt’s fintech startup Telda secures $20 million
Over 103 million people already call Egypt home, and the country’s population is expanding at a rate of about 2% annually. The significant increase in the population has resulted in a retail industry that is rapidly expanding, and there is a potential spending pool of $250 billion available from customers. Even though there has been a clear rise in the use of digital payments in the past few years, it is thought that only 4% of all consumer spending is done without cash.
Local fintechs have surged in the region
There has been an increase in the number of local fintech companies that want to fill service gaps in the financial sector and raise the bar for consumer spending. This will make it easier for underserved groups to get access to financial goods and help them manage their money better.
“For financial technology start-ups like ours, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are resent a massive market opportunity due to its demographics. In Europe, only one-third of the population is under the age of 30, whereas over 60% of the population in the United States is.
The general populace possesses a high level of technological expertise and is consistently open to adopting novel technology. Customers in Egypt, where half of the population does not have a bank account, do not get the full value of their money because traditional banking is difficult, time-consuming, and labour-intensive. Egypt is not an exception to this rule. Because of this, Egypt is a market that Nexta finds to be very appealing. According to Ahmed Hisham, who serves as CEO of Nexta,
Nexta allows users to make payments without opening a bank account
The financial application known as Nexta markets itself as a lifestyle product. Users are provided with prepaid cards by the financial technology company. These cards allow users to make payments to one another without the need to open up a bank account. Users can also keep an eye on how they spend their money and get better at budgeting.
“A large number of customer desires should be addressed, taking into account the growing demand for a change in the way financial services are used.” This is where Nexta steps in with its mission, which is to offer digitally native services that help users keep up with their lifestyles and enable citizens of all backgrounds to attain financial liberty,” he adds. The goal of Nexta is to provide digitally native services that help people keep up with their lives and give people from all walks of life financial freedom.
Each of the three applications is supported by a bank that has recently obtained a banking agent license from the CBE. This license was just recently made available.