Egyptian fintech Flend has secured $3 million in seed funding through a mix of equity and debt to expand its digital lending infrastructure for small and medium-sized enterprises. The equity portion was led by Egypt Ventures, with participation from Camel Ventures, Sukna Ventures, Plus VC, Banque Misr, and several family offices including El Sewedy and Baalbaki. Debt funding was provided by MSMEDA and a network of local banking partners.
Founded by Ahmed Zaki, Nehal Helmy, and Saif Edeen El Bendari, Flend is licensed by Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) as a Digital Non-Banking Financial Institution. The company offers short-term working capital loans to SMEs through a fully digital platform, streamlining everything from onboarding and credit scoring to disbursement and collections using digitally binding contracts.
“This round allows us to finance SMEs where they do business—within the platforms that drive Egypt’s economy,” said Zaki. “We’ve seen rising demand and are ready to scale our reach.”
Flend integrates with more than 20 supply chain platforms across sectors such as agri-food, e-commerce, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing, embedding finance directly into the ecosystems where SMEs operate. The company’s goal is to inject EGP 1 billion in SME loans within the next year, addressing part of Egypt’s estimated $50 billion financing gap for small businesses.
The funding will also support the expansion of Flend’s team, development of new strategic partnerships, and further enhancement of its tech infrastructure.
“Flend is solving a major regional challenge—making SME finance digital-first, embedded, and accessible,” said Hasan Haider, founder and managing partner at Plus VC.
As Egypt looks to boost private sector participation and improve access to finance, Flend is positioning itself as a key enabler of growth for SMEs navigating complex supply chains and liquidity constraints.
