Egypt-based fintech PALM has raised a seven-figure USD pre-seed round led by 4DX Ventures, with participation from Plus VC and a group of international angel investors. The startup, founded in 2024 by Mazen El Kerdany and Ahmed Ashour, is reimagining how Egyptians approach saving – not by telling them to cut back, but by embedding smart, goal-based nudges and curated investment options directly into everyday financial decisions.
Rather than trying to replace traditional banking, PALM sits atop it as a user-centric layer designed around real-life goals like education, healthcare, marriage, or big-ticket purchases. It enables users to automatically allocate savings across diversified portfolios spanning fixed income, equities, and precious metals, while simultaneously unlocking access to exclusive merchant deals that stretch spending power. The result is a dual-value proposition: increase returns and reduce out-of-pocket costs, without relying on users to radically change their habits.
El Kerdany, a former asset management executive who previously ran strategy at Beltone and Egypt Post’s investment arm, and Ashour, an ex-Amazon and Goldman Sachs product leader, believe that the problem isn’t Egypt’s capacity to save, households hold trillions in bank deposits, gold, and real estate, but the lack of accessible, culturally resonant financial tools that align with personal milestones. “The old formula of earn, spend, and save what’s left no longer works,” El Kerdany said. “We’re enabling people to start with the goal and build towards it.”
With this funding, PALM plans to scale user acquisition, deepen its merchant network, and expand use cases around its goal-based savings engine. The company is positioning itself not just as a savings product, but as a long-term financial partner across income levels and life stages—what it calls “financial wellness in your PALM.” While its initial focus is Egypt, PALM’s ambitions stretch across the Mediterranean, where similar dynamics – fragmented financial tools, high cash usage, and low retail investment penetration – persist.
