FinTech Zywa Raises $3 Million, Valuing It At $30 Million
Zywa, a FinTech startup that focuses on teenagers, raised $3 million in a new round of funding, bringing the company’s valuation to more than Dh110 million ($30 million), the company announced on Tuesday.
The startup, which is part of Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem Hub71, offers a prepaid card for teenagers and an app to manage and save money.
Investors that participated in the latest funding round include Goodwater Capital, Dubai Future District Fund, Rebel Fund, Trampoline VC, Zemu VC, some European family offices and strategic angel investors, Zywa said in a statement.
The new funds will help the company focus on product, growth and strategic partnerships to accelerate growth in the UAE and Egypt markets, and support the launch of its services in Saudi Arabia – the Arab world’s largest economy – early next year, Alok Kumar said , co-founder and CEO of Zywa.
“Gen Zs in the UAE spend around Dh5 billion every year and still rely on cash or their parents’ cards, despite having options such as add-on cards issued by their parents’ banks,” he said. “While these options provide access to digital payments, they are not fundamentally designed for Gen Z, and this is where we add value.”
Founded in 2021, Zywa offers a gamified community-based banking app and payment card to Gen Z youth aged 11 to 25. Through the app, parents can send money to their children and monitor their spending and saving habits.
In the Middle East, the FinTech sector is expanding rapidly. By 2022, more than 800 FinTech companies operating in various segments such as payments, InsureTech and cybersecurity are expected to raise more than $2 billion in venture capital funding to boost growth, UAE lender Mashreq said in February, citing data from Midt. The Eastern Institute.
Globally, digital payments are expected to grow to $8.26 trillion by 2024, from $4.4 billion in 2020, Statista said.
Zywa in February raised $1 million in a pre-seed round led by Y Combinator. It recently joined Hub71, gaining access to Abu Dhabi’s capital ecosystem, a global network of partners and a community of highly qualified talent.
“With Gen Z, we need to hit the nail on the head between community, gamified learning and payment access,” said Nuha Hashem, co-founder and chief technology officer at Zywa.
“We want them [Gen Z users] to experience banking in a cool way that sets a high standard for them in the future. This funding will also help us tailor the product to a new audience in my home country [Egypt] and the country where I grew up [Saudi Arabia].”
In just four months of the pre-seed round, Zywa received more than 100,000 registrations.
“We are excited to support Zywa as we believe that financial education needs to be revolutionized for teenagers in this changing economy,” said Samantha Ku, CEO of Square Financial Services, one of the strategic angel investors who joined the latest funding round.
Updated: August 23, 2022, 1:54 p.m
