Balad is a remittance-driven financial service provider catering to migrants and their families, founded in 2022 by Adham Azzam, Sally Asaad, and Mohamed Assem. Through Balad prepaid cards, the startup offers lower transfer fees and instant delivery of inward remittances.
Acasia Ventures, formerly Cairo Angels, led the startup’s pre-seed funding round, which also included Launch Africa Ventures, Future Africa, V&R, Magic Fund, First Circle, Sunny Side, and several family offices.
The funds will be used to launch Balad’s remittance platform, develop platform-specific technology, hire new team members, obtain necessary licenses, and complete integrations with its banking partner.
“Acasia Ventures has been an instrumental lead investor for our pre-seed round, as it supported the founders from the start and facilitated our access to other funding partners. We are excited to leverage Acasia Ventures’ expertise, African connections and synergies with its portfolio companies,” Azzam said.
“Balad is led by a seasoned executive team that has demonstrated its ability to bring such a vital product to the market,” Acasia Ventures managing partner Aly El Shalakany said. “Its offering is very unique and distinctive in that it provides remittance receivers with a quick and cheap solution to financial access, broadening the umbrella of financial inclusion across Egypt and the GCC.”
