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As Internet connectivity and smartphone adoption in Africa continue to rise, a number of African entrepreneurs, such as Egyptian fintech founder Islam Shawky, stand at the forefront of deepening financial inclusion on the continent through financial services products aimed at underserved communities.
Shawky, one of Egypt’s youngest entrepreneurs, has been instrumental in the country’s financial industry transformation through Paymob, a fintech startup that he co-founded in 2015 with Alain El Hajj and Mostafa Menessy to enhance financial inclusion in Egypt and across the continent.
Paymob enables businesses to accept both online and offline payments through an innovative mobile wallet technology that provides clients with access to finance and digital payments. The startup’s success since launch has allowed Shawky to establish himself as a central player in Africa’s fintech space.
Aside from being the CEO of Paymob, the Egyptian entrepreneur, who is passionate about developing innovative large-scale technologies to enable the masses to access financial services, is also a member of the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center’s Board of Trustees.
Under Shawky’s leadership, Paymob has facilitated more than 120 million transactions worth over EGP6 billion ($324.6 million) through its payment channel, which connects more than 12 million users and 150,000 agents.
Due to its impressive performance, the company was able to secure $50 million during its Series-B round, which was led by PayPal Ventures, the company’s global corporate venture arm, as well as the venture capital firms Kora Capital in New York and Clay Point in London.
The round brings the startup’s total funding to more than $68.5 million, making it one of the most funded companies in the region.
The funding will be critical to the platform’s strategic expansion plans as it continues to provide underserved small and medium-sized enterprises with better access to digital financial services.
The multimillion-dollar funding will be used to expand its product line, strengthen its position in the Egyptian market, and propel its entry into new markets across the Middle East and North Africa, according to management.
