Egyptian fintech company MoneyFellows has successfully raised $13 million in a pre-Series C funding round to expand its mobile-based platform for digital money circles. The round was led by Al Mada Ventures and DPI’s Nclude Fund, with participation from Partech Africa and CommerzVentures.
MoneyFellows operates by digitizing the traditional concept of “Gameya” (Money Circles), also known as Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs), which are popular in Egypt and other Arab countries. These circles involve a group of people who contribute a fixed amount of money each month into a collective pot, with one member receiving the pot’s total each month.
The platform uses behavioral data, credit scores, and income levels to match savers and borrowers, widening the network beyond traditional groups of family and friends. Since its launch in 2018, MoneyFellows now boasts over 8.5 million users, with an average payout per user of around $900, which has contributed to the company’s profitability.
Ahmed Wadi, CEO of MoneyFellows, emphasized the success of their model: “We have managed to crack this model and reach profitability, doing this while lending billions without relying on working capital at all. It’s quite disruptive.”
