REG - EFG-Hermes Holdings - valU Acquire Minority Stake in Kiwe

EFG Holding SAEAnnouncement

19/10/2022 14:00

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RNS Number : 4465D  EFG-Hermes Holdings SAE  19 October 2022

 

Press Release

valU Acquires Stake in Social Payment Startup, Kiwe, to Further Compliment its
Portfolio and Strengthen its Offering

-     This investment falls in line with valU's strategy to offer a
holistic set of end-to-end financial solutions to individuals, namely youth
and small businesses.

-     Kiwe aims to utilize the investment to enhance growth by both
expanding its financial product offerings to the unbanked youth segment and
increasing its merchant network to be more widespread across the nation.

Cairo, October 19, 2022

valU, MENA's leading Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) lifestyle-enabling fintech
platform, announced today its acquisition of a minority stake in local fintech
start-up, Kiwe, the first youth social payment app that facilitates onboarding
the unbanked segment in Egypt. Currently, EFG Hermes Finance, EFG EV Fintech,
dFin Holding, and Marakez are among the firm's existing shareholders.

Kiwe's fintech solutions attract young people, as the company capitalizes on
their daily hassles of payment and social engagement, allowing them to easily
collect, send, and spend money electronically. In addition, it offers small
businesses and start-ups a digital, simple, and cost-efficient payment
platform, with the goal of alleviating the daily financial struggles faced by
young entrepreneurs doing business. Kiwe currently utilizes PayTabs Egypt, one
of EFG Hermes Holding's subsidiaries and part of its Non-Bank Financial
Institutions (NBFI) platform, as their secure payment processing platform.
Kiwe can be utilized at merchant outlets across Cairo.

By combining Kiwe's service offering with valU's BNPL plans, valU is
delivering on its vision of becoming a holistic financing powerhouse,
providing progressive and convenient solutions to every aspect of people's
daily lives. The investment also compliments valU's recent strategic
acquisition of Paynas, a full-fledged employee management and benefits company
that provides financial products, such as payroll cards and digital salary
advances, to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The minority stake acquisition in Kiwe builds on valU's mission to fuel the
growth of cashless transactions, which positively impacts financial inclusion
in Egypt. It is also in line with valU's mission to widen its client base of
young individuals and small businesses and will support Kiwe's expansion by
tapping into valU's vast network of vendors across numerous sectors.

This investment builds on an existing partnership between Kiwe and valU, which
has seen them successfully join forces across several large events, such as Le
Marche and Shababco. This partnership facilitated the participation of new
exhibitors who had no previous access to payment solutions.

Habiba Naguib, Head of Strategy and Market Expansion at valU, said, "This
strategic investment in Kiwe comes as a natural step to further bolster our
portfolio of financial services by extending more innovative solutions to
MSMEs and young people. Serving these segments allows us to reach a larger
population, ensuring that we are alleviating financial hassles, driving
financial inclusion, and contributing to greater convenience for millions of
customers. With its unique offering and simplified, engaging user experience,
Kiwe will greatly benefit from leveraging our vast and ever-growing network of
vendors. Hence this is an investment that promises growth for all. We believe
we can create more innovative financial solutions that unlock many
opportunities for us and our users, creating long-term value for the people
who rely on our services every day to improve their lives, grow their
businesses, and positively impact their communities."

This investment marks the first for Kiwe this year, with plans in place to
fundraise a seed round in the coming months.

Omar Kamel, Co-founder of Kiwe, commented, "For us at Kiwe, valU's investment
is proof positive that we're forging ahead in the right direction and signals
confidence in our brand that offers unique services that are in high demand.
Having a leading fintech player such as valU onboard acts as a pivotal step
forward in our expansion strategy by allowing us to benefit greatly from their
success and giving us access to their vast network of vendors. With our
companies aligned on a common vision set out to give seamless access to
financial solutions and enhance financial literacy, we're positive we will be
amplifying sustainable social and economic success."

-Ends-

About valU

A subsidiary of EFG Hermes Holding established in 2017, valU is the leading
Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) lifestyle-enabling fintech platform offering
convenient and customizable financing plans up to 60 months. With more than
5,000 points of sale and over 330 websites, valU offers access to a wide
network of retail and e-commerce providers across a diverse array of
categories including home appliances, electronics, home finishing, furniture,
residential solar solutions, healthcare, education, travel, and fashion, among
others. As the first platform of its kind in the MENA region, valU customers
can receive instant credit decisions through their devices and gain access to
the ever-growing platform's partners.

Note on Forward-Looking Statements

In this press release, EFG Hermes Holding may make forward looking statements,
including, for example, statements about management's expectations, strategic
objectives, growth opportunities and business prospects. These forward-looking
statements are not historical facts but instead represent only EFG Hermes
Holding's belief regarding future events, many of which, by their nature are
inherently uncertain and are beyond management's control and include among
others, financial market volatility; actions and initiatives taken by current
and potential competitors; general economic conditions and the effect of
current, pending, and future legislation, regulations, and regulatory actions.
Accordingly, the readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are
made.

About Kiwe

Kiwe is a social payments app focusing on facilitating payments between
individuals and easing money transactions from your smartphone. Kiwe's primary
focus is the underserved and underbanked youth segment and thus aims to offer
youth centric financial products. Kiwe is present at different outlets
including f&b, sports, electronics, furniture, schools, recreation, etc.
Kiwe is able to grow via the established strategic partnerships with leading
retail, commercial, residential, and educational platforms where the aim is
for users to rely on Kiwe for their daily payments.

 

 

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