Cairo-based startup ‘Sympl’ has raised the first funding round from A15 with a regional focus. This first investment marks the platform launch for the FinTech startup and it is considered an extension of efforts to empower Tech innovations in the region by A15.
Founded last month by Yasmine Henna, Mohamed El-Feky and Karim Tawfik, Sympl is a buy now pay later service, allowing merchants to sell products and services directly to customers on short-term and interest-free repayment plans. With A15’s early investment in the startup, the venture capital firm was able to support the development of the Sympl checkout platform and successfully help to bring it to launch.
The third quarter of the year proved consistent with the stellar year of FinTech across MENA, Turkey, and Pakistan. Observing a 55% Quarter-on-Quarter growth of funds backing FinTech across MENAPT, the industry observed yet another quarterly record as most recently recorded in Q3 2021. Most remarkably, online payment solutions and financial structuring services have been a hot target for VC investors across MENAPT as observed in FinTech Funding Rounds 2021 YTD. Of which, startups like BPL platforms Tabby (UAE) and Colendi (Turkey) raising major rounds this year.
In parallel to setting the payment infrastructures that push forward with cashless and flexible payment processes, FinTechs like BitOasis, Sarwa, and most recently Fintech Galaxy, and Tarabut Gateway have raised rounds this year to explore the worlds of Cryptocurrency, Open Banking, and Digital Investment.
A15 invests in its portfolio companies at an early stage
Working closely with the founders to generate value across different channels. A15’s partnership with Sympl – whose co-founders’ experience includes co-creating leading consumer finance company ValU and B2B commerce platform Capiter – ideally positions both companies.
In light of this first investment, Karim Beshara, General Partner at A15, commented “At A15, we are committed to partnering with strong founding teams in the very early stages of their ventures, where we can work closely together to unlock value. We pride ourselves on the close relationships we maintain with the founders and their teams, supporting them from the beginning as part of the A15 family. We are excited to have backed Sympl from day one and are proud of the early positive signs from their launch. We look forward to continued close collaboration and scaling the business.”
With the support of A15, Sympl’s “Save your money pay later” checkout platform successfully launched in October via an exclusive partnership with leading Apple reseller, Tradeline – on the release of the new iPhone 13. Other partnerships have been established with key retailers in the electronics and appliances sector (2B), jewelry (Al-Mawardy Jewelry, Damas, and Jawhara), auto parts (Your Parts), hypermarket (Hyperone) sectors, and covering merchants in an array of other categories such as furniture, fashion, travel, and medical services.
Mohamed Elfeky, Chief Executive Officer of Sympl concluded “A15 has been a crucial partner in the early stages of our growth. Their support in product development initiatives, tech integrations and connections to their startups’ ecosystem have been important in our early success. We look forward to continuing our partnership with them to drive innovation, provide new solutions for merchants and consumers, and contribute to the transition to a cashless society in Egypt.”
