MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Liwwa Raises $21m in Debt, Equity for SME Lending Platform in Egypt, Jordan from Investors Including FMO, 500 Startups, Edgo, EFG-EV, Chris Larsen, Wamda

Jordan-based financial technology (fintech) firm Liwwa recently borrowed USD 15 million to expand its facilitation of loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt and Jordan. Liwwa also raised equity totaling USD 6 million from its previous investors Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), the Netherlands Development Finance Company; Jordan-based Bank al Etihad; Jordan-based Dash Ventures; and US-based VC firm Silicon Badia as well as several first-time investors in the firm. These new investors include 500 Startups; Edgo VC, the venture capital (VC) arm of the Engineering and Development Group (Edgo); EFG-EV Fintech, a project of Egyptian Financial Group (EFG) Hermes and Egypt Ventures (EV); angel investor Chris Larsen; and Wamda Capital. Liwwa’s lenders include Bank al Etihad, other Jordanian banks, Netherlands-based Triple Jump and a range of individual investors.

Founded in 2015, Liwwa is an online credit platform that connects borrowers with lenders. It is based in Jordan and expanded to Egypt in 2018. Its lenders include individuals and institutions from Malaysia, the Netherlands and several countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Borrowing firms must have annual turnover of at least JOD 60,000 (USD 85,000) or EGP 1 million (USD 63,000). The maximum loan size is USD 100,000, lending periods range from six to 24 months, and funding occurs within 48 hours document verification. During the quarter ending September 2019, Liwwa facilitated loans totaling USD 27.5 million, a 71-percent increase over the same quarter of 2018.

Established in 1970, FMO is a Dutch development bank that is 51-percent held by the Dutch government and 49-percent held by private sector institutions. The bank works toward the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by funding capacity development as well as placing debt and equity investments in sectors such as agribusiness, financial institutions and energy. As of 2019, the bank reported a portfolio of EUR 9.7 billion (USD 10.5 billion). Prior to this round of funding, FMO had invested approximately USD 1.55 million in Liwwa.

500 Startups is a US-based venture capital firm that runs 22 funds and held USD 454 million in capital as of December 2018.

Chris Larsen is the co-founder of Ripple, US-based a cryptocurrency-payment platform. He is serves as Executive Chair of the company and is an angel investor to technology startups.

Edgo is a private oil and gas company that is based in Jordan and primarily active in MENA.

EFG-EV Fintech is a business accelerator aiming to support 30 startups with funding and technical assistance over the next five years.

Dubai-based Wamda Capital is a privately held VC firm focusing on MENA. It has 34 holdings in Africa, Asia and the US.

By Ng Chee Meng, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Direct contact with FMO
https://www.fmo.nl/

FMO press release on Liwwa investment
https://www.fmo.nl/news-detail/da7d6499-1bd0-4437-a26f-a79e6df91aa7/fmo-leads-equity-investment-into-liwwa-driving-egypt-expansion

Liwwa FAQ
https://www.liwwa.com/help/faq

Liwwa 2019 Q3 report
https://blog.liwwa.com/third-quarter-2019-highlights/

FMO 2018 annual report
https://annualreport.fmo.nl/2018/reports/ar2018/at-a-glance/2018-performance

FMO investment in Liwwa
https://www.fmo.nl/project-detail/52915

MicroCapital article on FMO
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-fmo-considering-5m-investment-in-innoviti-payment-solutions-provider-of-loans-cashless-payments-to-msmes-consumers-in-india/

500 Startups homepage
https://500.co/press/

Forbes page on Chris Larsen
https://www.forbes.com/profile/chris-larsen

Edgo homepage
http://www.edgo.com/about-us/our-heritage/

EFG-EV Fintech homepage
https://www.efgev.com/company/

EFG Hermes homepage
https://www.efghermes.com/en/Pages/default.aspx

Egypt Ventures homepage
http://egyptventures.com/

Crunchbase page on Wamda Capital
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/wamda

Crunchbase page on Bank al Etihad
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/bank-el-etihad

Crunchbase page on DASH Ventures
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/dash-ventures-2

Crunchbase page on Silicon Badia
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/silicon-badia

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