Led · Series A · Jul 2024

Dopay offers a digital payroll and payments platform that enables real-time, secure, and cashless payments to employees, including weekend and holiday transfers. Each account is paired with a prepaid debit card issued in partnership with Mastercard, giving 24/7 ATM access. The company leverages an agent banking license to deliver digital banking services and to streamline onboarding of employees and beneficiaries. Dopay serves a range of corporate clients in Egypt, from small businesses to large enterprises, including G4S, EFS Facilities Management and SWVL. Led by CEO and Founder Frans van Eersel, the company aims to drive financial inclusion for previously unbanked and underbanked workers. It plans to expand its multi-bank, multi-country platform and launch new financial services using newly raised capital. dopay provides companies with a cloud-based payroll and cash-management platform that calculates salaries and pays unbanked employees electronically. Employees receive a dopay account with a VISA debit card to withdraw cash at ATMs or pay in stores, and a mobile app gives real-time access to balances. The app also lets users top up prepaid mobile and send money. Egypt is the company’s first operating market. Led by founder & CEO Frans van Eersel, dopay was part of the Barclays Accelerator program powered by Techstars. The company has raised $4.6M in total to date and will use the new funds to scale development and sales teams and to launch and expand services in Egypt and across the Middle East and Africa. Dopay provides a cloud payroll service that enables employers to calculate and remit salaries electronically to staff who lack bank accounts, depositing wages into dopay accounts that include debit cards and an app. The app lets users view real-time balances, send money, and top up prepaid mobile; a call-centre option exists for users without Internet access. Dopay’s accounts are powered by Barclays and Visa, and because Dopay does not have a banking license initial deposits are held in an escrow account at Barclays Egypt. The company soft-launched in Egypt with a couple of employers and plans a full launch there in June, with further expansion targeted across the Middle East, Africa and India. Part of the new funding will be used to develop additional app features to serve the roughly 2 billion people globally who work but lack bank accounts.

Led · Debt Financing · Jul 2023

Salmon Group operates a modern money app and a suite of financial products delivered through the Salmon app and runs a BSP-licensed bank (Salmon Bank) and an SEC-licensed financing company (Salmon Finance). Founded in July 2022 by Pavel Fedorov, George Chesakov, and Raffy Montemayor, the company aims to be a challenger to legacy banks in the Philippines by focusing on customer experience and execution speed. Salmon highlights product metrics such as a 4.8 rating in both the App Store and Google Play and 99.9% uptime, and offers competitive retail features cited in the announcement (for example, Salmon Credit’s up to 62-day grace period and an 8% term deposit rate). The group is backed by prominent US venture investors as well as IFC (World Bank Group), ADQ/Lunate, Antler and notable Filipino investors. Salmon plans to use new capital to expand products, deepen distribution, and further capitalize Salmon Bank to grow its lending and deposit footprint. The company positions itself to scale its balance sheet and lending portfolio through a mix of equity and public debt financing.