MoneyFellows raises $13M to take its group savings model outside Egypt

While most African digital lenders depend on working capital to fuel growth, MoneyFellows has quietly done what few others have: lend billions of Egyptian pounds with almost no debt or balance sheet exposure.

Now, after raising $13 million in a pre-Series C round led by Casablanca-based Al Mada Ventures and DPI’s Nclude Fund, the Cairo-based fintech says it’s ready to shift from steady growth to regional expansion.

The round, which also drew participation from Partech Africa and CommerzVentures, brings the company’s total funding to just over $60 million.

Founder and CEO Ahmed Wadi notes that, unlike fintechs burning through cash to scale, the startup has kept operations lean while digitizing one of the world’s oldest financial systems: the rotating savings and credit association (ROSCA).

“We have managed to crack this model and reach profitability,” said Wadi. “Doing this while lending out billions without relying on working capital at all is quite disruptive in itself.”

ROSCAs are informal savings groups where a fixed number of participants contribute regularly to a shared pool, which pays out to one member per cycle. Common across emerging markets, they go by different names: “esusu” or “ajo” in Nigeria, “kameti” or “chit” fund in India, and “gam’eya” in Egypt.

Here’s how it works: Say 10 people each contribute $1,000 a month. Every month, one person receives the full $10,000. The cycle repeats until everyone gets a payout. While these groups work best within trusted circles, their offline nature limits access and scalability.