Fintech startup MNT-Halan raked in an impressive $400 million in a hybrid equity-debt financing round, propelling its post-money valuation to much-coveted billion-dollar unicorn status. Africa’s unicorn landscape had remained fallow since Nigeria’s Chipper Cash achieved a similar feat in November 2021, through a Series C extension led by FTX and totaling $150 million. The latest billion-dollar valuation shows the country’s potential as the new frontier of mega VC funding in Africa. MNT-Halan dates back to 2017, when co-founders Mounir Nakhla and Ahmed Mohsen initiated the development of a ride-hailing platform, simply known as Halan, in the vicinity of Zamalek, Giza. Within the first year of its market launch, the fledgling firm expanded its offerings to encompass both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) on-demand logistics solutions. The company’s cutting-edge technology has enabled it to serve thousands of customers in Egypt, providing them with access to financial services that were previously unavailable.
