Egyptian digital banking startup, Telda raised US$ 5 million in the region’s largest pre-seed funding on 17 May 2021. What makes this investment special for Egypt is that it is the first investment by Sequoia Capital in the Middle East & North Africa.
Investors: The funding round was led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Global Founders Capital and Class 5 Global. Telda is also the first investment by Global Founders Capital and Class 5 Global in an Egyptian startup.
About Telda
Founded in 2021 by Ahmed Sabbah and Youssef Sholqamy, Cairo-based Telda is a financial brand in the MENA region built for Millennials and GenZ to take the pain out of payment experience and peer-to-peer transfers. Sabbah (Co-founder and former CTO of Swvl) and Sholqamy (Former senior engineer with Uber) teamed up to build Telda with a mission to change how Gen Z spends and manages their money in the Middle East, starting with Egypt.
Signing up for Telda account is very simple. Users can sign in online with their phone number and national ID, without any paperwork. The account comes with a Mastercard-powered card used for online payments, in-store purchases and cash withdrawals. Users can receive money on their accounts from anyone in Egypt and beyond using the IBAN that they receive for their digital account on it.
The startup claims to have over 30,000 sign-ups with over 17,000 people who’ve requested the card from the app. Telda is also the first company in Egypt to receive a license from the Central bank of Egypt under the new Banking Agents regulations, which allows them to issue cards and onboard customers digitally.
What the founders have to say: “Talks with Sequoia started with a cold message on LinkedIn that I had sent to a partner at the firm. I then spoke with multiple people at the firm and Sequoia gave me a term sheet a few weeks later.” — Ahmed Sabbah.
What the investors have to say: “I see many parallels between Brazil and Egypt. Both countries boast a large, young, talented and tech-savvy population with a strong appetite to innovate. We are delighted to partner with Telda and earmark our first investment in the region.” — George Robson, Partner at Sequoia.
“We are highly impressed by Sabbah and Sholqamy and love their vision for building the region’s leading digital banking app and we are proud to be part of their journey. It is GFC’s first investment in Egypt and we see that Egypt has the potential to become an important hub in the global tech ecosystem.” — Roel Janssen, Partner at Global Founders Capital.
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