Paymob, an Egyptian B2B merchant financial services platform, raised $50 million in a Series B fundraising round, increasing the company’s total capital to $68.5 million.

The deal, Egypt’s largest fintech Series B, was headed by Kora Capital, PayPal Ventures, and Clay Point, with Helios Digital Ventures, British International Investment, and Nclude joining as additional investors. A15, FMO, and Global Ventures were among the existing investors who took part.

The “substantial fundraising,” according to Paymob co-founder and CEO Islam Shawky, is a huge validation of the company’s SME-focused approach, with special gratitude to Central Bank of Egypt efforts that have aided Paymob’s growth.

“The Central Bank has established a regulatory framework to assist fintech in flourishing and contributing to Egypt’s digital financial inclusion goals.”

The funds will be used to boost the company’s growth ambitions, which include expanding its product line, strengthening the company’s leadership, and expanding into new markets across the Middle East and Africa. In 2021, the company had rapid growth, with the number of merchants and monthly volumes increasing by 4x year over year as of December 2021.

Paymob’s omni-channel payment infrastructure facilitates digital payments both in-store and online, with the most payment options available in Egypt, including mobile wallets, QR codes, and buy now, pay later.

Paymob’s scale and penetration have attracted a number of high-profile players in the payments market, including Vodafone and Mastercard, with whom the business teamed to offer Tap-on-Phone in Egypt, the country’s first of its kind.

The Cairo-based start-up raised $18.5 million in one of the largest fintech Series A fundraising rounds in Egyptian history in April of last year.

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Paymob, MENA’s market-leading digital payments service, has collaborated with Bank Alfalah, one of Pakistan’s major private banks. The two firms have teamed up to launch and support merchant acquisition and integration services in Pakistan. Over 100,000 merchants will be empowered as a result of the agreement, which will also see the debut of new innovative e-commerce acceptance services for online retailers.

This is Paymob’s first collaboration outside of Egypt, and it’s part of the company’s MENAP expansion strategy. Bank Alfalah’s collaboration with Paymob will promote financial inclusion and pave the path for quick payment acceptance, in line with Bank Alfalah’s goal of supporting merchant acquisition and integration services across the country.

For the first time in Pakistan, Paymob’s advanced solutions such as payment gateway integration, POS terminals, and Soft POS will be used to enable an instant onboarding feature, which is enabled by the State Bank of Pakistan’s recently published digital onboarding regulations and is one of many positive steps the State Bank has taken to enable MSME Merchants in order to further digitise the ecosystem.

Given the variety of retail shops and small companies in Pakistan’s cities, the market opportunity is substantial. The market is perfectly equipped to match Paymob’s requirements and goal to develop globally – and bridge the digital financial gap – with over four million SMEs employing just over 80,000 POS terminals and less than 3000 e-commerce payment gateways.

Atif Bajwa, President and CEO of Bank Alfalah, remarked at the signing event in Karachi:

“Bank Alfalah is happy to be a part of one of Pakistan’s major Fintech collaborations with Paymob. Our partnership will serve thousands of merchants across Pakistan, and our industry-first “Tap-on-Phone” technology will enable us to reach even the most remote retailers.”

Paymob’s COO, Alain El-Hajj, said:

“For Paymob, this is a watershed moment. We are thrilled to work with Bank AlFalah, under its progressive leadership, to provide SMEs in Pakistan with dependable and seamless digital payment services. We hope to contribute to the shared objective of economic growth and SMEs’ digitalisation through this relationship.”

There are various favourable factors driving Pakistan’s market. GDP growth is expected to be 5-6 percent every year, with the total value of e-commerce consumer items increasing by 83 percent to US$3.9 billion in 2021. According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, 101 million people in Pakistan use the internet, with 46 percent having broadband access and 85 percent (183 million) having mobile connections.

Due to its growing youth population, disruptive internet and smartphone penetration, consumer preferences for mobile phones and social media, a booming e-commerce market facilitating digital payments, and the financial system’s overall capacity for innovation, Pakistan has the potential for significant Fintech growth, according to the PIDE.

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