Egypt-based fintech startup MoneyHash has raised $5.2 million in pre-Series A funding to further simplify payment stacks for merchants across the Middle East and Africa (MEA). This latest investment brings the company's total funding to over $12 million since its inception in early 2021.

MoneyHash, founded by Nader Abdelrazik and Mustafa Eid, addresses the complex issue of payment orchestration, which involves integrating multiple payment providers to meet different customer and regulatory needs. The platform aggregates and simplifies payment processes across regions via APIs, making it easier for merchants to manage their payment stacks.

The need for payment orchestration is particularly pressing in the MEA region, where payment failure rates are three times the global average and cart abandonment is over 20% higher than in developed markets. By providing a unified API for pay-in and pay-out operations, customizable checkout, and advanced transaction routing with fraud prevention, MoneyHash helps merchants overcome these challenges and turn payments into a strategic advantage.

The company's focus on emerging markets and its vast integration network, which includes over 300 pre-integrated APIs covering 100+ markets, sets it apart from similar platforms in the U.S., U.K., and Europe. MoneyHash's executive team, comprising Abdelrazik and Eid, has extensive experience in fintech and enterprise software, having witnessed firsthand the problems that payment orchestration can solve.

Initially targeting small merchants, MoneyHash began expanding its services to larger enterprises in early 2024 with the launch of its enterprise suite. This strategic move has enabled the company to achieve significant scale, with enterprises across industries like consumer fintech, hospitality, e-commerce, and gaming now making up 35% of its clientele.

Key customers, including BNPL unicorn Tamara, cloud kitchen leader Kitopi, and e-commerce platform Brands For Less, have benefited from MoneyHash's comprehensive solution, which claims to increase revenue generation by 10-20% while cutting go-to-market and development costs by 90%. The head of payments at Tamara praised MoneyHash for building an important point of difference in the region.

The pre-Series A funding round was led by global fintech investor Flourish Ventures, with participation from Saudi's Vision Ventures, Arab Bank's Xelerate, Emurp Kepple Ventures, and existing investors Github founder Tom Preston-Werner and COTU Ventures. Jason Gardner, founder and former CEO of Marqeta, also joined the round, marking his first investment in the region.

The funding will support MoneyHash's continued growth and expansion in the MEA region, as the company looks to further simplify payment stacks for merchants and help them achieve greater efficiency and revenue growth. With its sights set on larger enterprises, MoneyHash is poised to play a significant role in shaping the future of payments in the region.

In a statement, CEO Abdelrazik emphasized the immense opportunity to solve the complex challenges faced by merchants in emerging markets, where digital payments represent only a fraction of total transaction volume, suggesting massive growth potential in the coming decade. As MoneyHash continues to scale and expand its services, it will be interesting to see how the company's innovative approach to payment orchestration impacts the broader fintech landscape in the MEA region.