Egyptian venture capital firm Acasia Ventures led the USD seven-figure pre-seed investment round in Cairo-based, remittance-focused fintech startup Balad. The round was joined by Launch Africa, Future Africa, V&R, Magic Fund, First Circle, Sunny Side, and several family offices.

Founded in 2022 by Adham Azzam, Sally Asaad and Mohamed Assem, Balad is a remittance-driven financial service provider (RemTech) catering for migrants and their families. The startup offers reduced transfer fees and instant delivery of inward remittances via Balad prepaid cards.

Balad’s founders aim to break down financial barriers for the underbanked segment by simplifying digital remittances for migrants and their families, allowing recipients instant access to transferred funds at lower fees and starting them off on their journey of digital finance. Their vision aligns with the UN’s 10th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which calls for reducing the global average fee for remittances from 7% to 3% within a decade and improving the financial inclusion of excluded communities.

The investment will be used to launch Balad’s remittance platform, develop the necessary technology for the platform, hire new team members, obtain required licenses, and complete integrations with its banking partner.

“Acasia Ventures has been an instrumental lead investor for our pre-seed round, as it supported the founders from the start and facilitated our access to other funding partners,” Azzam said. “We are excited to leverage Acasia Ventures’ expertise, African connections and synergies with its portfolio companies.”

This is Balad’s first funding round.