MoneyFellows, the Egyptian fintech transforming traditional group savings systems (known locally as gam’eya), has raised $13 million in a pre-Series C round.
The funding was led by Casablanca-based Al Mada Ventures and DPI’s Nclude Fund, with participation from Partech Africa and CommerzVentures. This round brings the company’s total funding to over $60 million.
Founded in 2016 by Ahmed Wadi, MoneyFellows digitizes the ROSCA (Rotating Savings and Credit Association) model — a centuries-old system of group saving and lending common in emerging markets. Instead of acting as a lender, the platform matches users into savings groups, allowing them to either borrow early or save for later disbursement, without taking on traditional lending risk.
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Low risk, high impact model
MoneyFellows distinguishes itself by not operating on a traditional balance sheet model. It only uses its own capital when a savings group (or “circle”) is one member short. Currently, this only accounts for about 7–8% of its active user base, keeping exposure to working capital minimal.
According to Wadi, this capital-efficient strategy has enabled the startup to remain profitable in Egypt while lending billions of Egyptian pounds without debt. The platform now serves 8.5 million users — up from 4.5 million during its last raise — with average payouts per user doubling to around $906.
Building a regional footprint
The new capital will support MoneyFellows’ expansion beyond Egypt, starting with Morocco later this year. The country’s large unbanked population, digital readiness, and similar savings culture (locally called daret) make it a natural next step. The startup has already secured regulatory approvals and local partnerships.
MoneyFellows is also eyeing additional markets in Africa and South Asia, aiming to replicate its model in regions with strong informal savings traditions.
Product evolution and competitive landscape
In 2024, MoneyFellows introduced a prepaid card for users to receive payouts, repay installments, and make purchases — a move towards becoming a full-service financial platform. Future plans include launching products in insurance, remittances, payroll, and investment.
This expansion places it in direct competition with other Egyptian digital financial platforms such as Lucky, Khazna, and Telda.
Investors bullish on the model
“ROSCA’s are ancient financial tools, but MoneyFellows has modernized them for the digital era,” said Omar Laalej, Managing Director at Al Mada Ventures. “We believe this model can make a huge impact beyond Egypt.”
As it prepares for a larger Series C round, MoneyFellows is also in talks with local banks to access additional working capital to scale faster.
