Egyptian FinTech startup NowPay has announced it raised $2.1 million in a seed round co-led by Endurance Capital and Foundation Ventures. Beco Capital, 500 Startups MENA, 4Dx Ventures, Plug and Play, EFG-EV Fintech, MSA Capital, and Ebikaralso joined the round with sizeable investments along with a few other investors from the US, the UAE, Egypt, and China.

With the success of this latest funding round, the total capital raised by the Cairo-based startup now stands at an impressive $2.7 million. The company had previously raised $600,000 in a seed round last year.

NowPay was launched in 2019 by co-founders Mostafa Ashour and Ahmed Sabry. The startup has a unique platform that enables corporates to offer salary advances to their employees. Employees of companies subscribed to NowPay's services can request a part of their salary (or all of it) at any time of the month using the NowPay mobile app.

Of course, to make the process foolproof, the NowPay accounts of each employee has to be validated by the organization first before they can request any salary advance.

Commenting on the success of the company during these challenging times, Mostafa stated: “During the peak of Covid-19 lockdowns, we are proud to have well-known and eminent investors back us, signaling trust in our business concept and our team. Saving, spending, budgeting, and borrowing, are our four pillars of financial wellness. Financial stress plays a major role as a top distraction for employees.

He added: “NowPay bridges that gap and provides several benefits for employers that choose to proactively address this area of employee wellness.[....] Within a very short period, we are delighted to have managed salaries in excess of US$100 million with a 60 percent month-over-month growth rate.”