Flend’s mission to expand SME financing in Egypt is getting a USD 3 mn boost, which the company raised in a blended financing round of equity and debt, the homegrown startup said in a statement (pdf). The equity round was led by fintech-focused accelerator Egypt Ventures, with participation from Camel Ventures, Banque Misr, Riyadh’s Sukna Ventures, Abu Dhabi’s Plus VC, and others. Meanwhile, debt was provided by the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Agency and local banking partners.

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Where’s the money going? The fresh capital will be deployed to expand Flend’s “embedded financing through partnerships with leading digital platforms serving SMEs,” according to the statement. The funds will also go toward hiring a larger team and deepening its “proprietary tech infrastructure to serve Egypt’s USD 50 bn SME financing gap.”

Flend? Flend is the country’s first Financial Regulatory Authority-regulated SME financingplatform, which offers “short-term working capital through a fully digital process, from onboarding and credit scoring to disbursement and collection,” according to the statement. “By embedding financing at the point of commerce, Flend improves reach, reduces acquisition costs, and leverages richer data for better credit decisions.”

What they said: “We are thrilled to partner with Flend and its outstanding team. Across sectors, access to capital for small and medium enterprises remains a persistent challenge. Flend’s mission to digitally transform SME financing in Egypt to make access to finance easier, faster, and more inclusive will be critical to unlocking value across industries,” said Egypt Ventures CEO Abdelrahman Mansour.

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