Can Egypt help Africa save face? This savings platform could show them how

After last week’s agonising 1-o loss to Uruguay, Egypt will tonight, at 8pm Central African Time, take on hosts Russia amid speculation on the fitness of top scorer Mohamed Salah.

Will Salah, the Egyptian King, be able to deliver like he promised? And more importantly, can the Pharaohs win their first match at the World Cup tonight, and possibly help Africa save face?

Maybe the team should look to Egyptian startup Money Fellows for inspiration — the company knows all there is to know about saving.

Money Fellows is reported to have raised up to $800 000 in funding since launch

CEO Ahmed Wadi (pictured above) founded collaborative group lending and savings platform in 2014 with an aim to digitise rotating savings and credit associations.

Earlier in the year, Wadi secured a $600 000 equity investment from 500 startups and Dubai Angel Investors for use in customer acquisition and to expand its partner network.

In January, Forbes Middle East reported that the startup had more than 2500 users and was developing a credit scoring offering. In an article listing the top 20 fintech startups in the Middle East, Forbes also reported that the startup — which has offices in Cairo and London — has raised up to $800 000 in funding since its inception.

Last year the World Economic Forum and the International Finance Corporation — as part of the Startup4IR initiative — selected Money Fellows as one of the Arab world’s top 100 startups (13 other Egyptian startups made it on the list).

In addition, Money Fellows also won $50 000 at the 2017 MIT Enterprise Forum Arab startup competition, as well as a $50 000 grant from the MetLife Foundation’s Financial Inclusion Plus competition.

Money Fellows was one of the winners of the 2016 Uber Pitch event. The startup has done well overseas, in the same year, the platform was one of the finalists of the European Fintech Awards.

In 2015, the Egyptian startup was the only African startup selected to join Startupbootcamp fintech accelerator in London — testament that Africans can also do well on the world stage. We hope the Pharaohs are paying attention.

This piece is part of a series of 12 articles is meant to be a light-hearted way that Ventureburn aims to draw attention to and celebrate African innovation and African startups.

African results so far:

Egypt 0-1 Uruguay (Group A, 15 June)
Morocco 0-1 Iran (Group B, 15 June)
Nigeria 0-2 Croatia (Group C 16 June)
Tunisia 1-2 England (Group G 18 June)

Read more: Will the Teranga Lions roar and dominate like Senegalese startup CoinAfrique?
Read more: Can Tunisia haul a win? Meet the logistics marketplace that could inspire them
Read more: As the Atlas Lions march into battle, learn how MedTrucks is disrupting healthcare
Read more: Ahead of the Pharoahs’ Group A match, meet Egyptian healthtech Vezeeta
Read more: This is how Ventureburn will celebrate African tech startups this World Cup

Featured image: Moneyfellows via Facebook