An investment in Menthum, a digital savings platform based in Cairo, has been completed by Acacia Ventures, an Egyptian early-stage venture capital company. Acacia Ventures joined a pre-seed round that also included A15 and a number of well-known angel investors.
A money market fund can be used to invest in safe treasury bills (T-bills) through Menthum, a business-to-business and business-to-consumer digital savings platform.
In partnership with a significant investment manager, Menthum, which is authorised and governed by Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), has developed the nation’s first digital money market fund.
Traditional money market funds are often unavailable to Egyptians due to the difficulties associated with established avenues.
Menthum reinvented the money market fund with its technology and distinctive process flow, making it simple and available to everyone.
With strong returns, rapid liquidity, and an easy-to-use mobile app, Menthum has established the secure money market fund as a viable substitute for conventional bank accounts for both individuals and corporations.
Menthum has developed a user-friendly mobile application and a strategy that prioritises the needs of its users. Using their cellphone number to register for the Menthum mobile app, users scan their National IDs, and the program immediately receives the ID information.
After the Menthum team has finished the KYC screening procedure, the account is activated. Customers can transfer money from their Egyptian bank accounts to their Menthum accounts.
There is no minimum purchase amount: clients can begin with as little as one Egyptian pound. They can withdraw money from Menthum at any moment and transfer it back to their bank account, with no lock-in period.
Money in a Menthum account is placed in a safe money market fund, which yields nearly twice as much as a conventional savings bank account.
The platform also allows small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and major organisations to invest in its money market fund, allowing them to improve their working capital return.
Menthum first appeared in app stores in November of last year. Himanshu Shrimali and Ismail Sarhank, both senior professionals, co-founded the venture.
Shrimali has more than two decades of banking and financial services experience, most recently as Head of Retail Banking at Arab African International Bank.
Sarhank has spent the last decade in the financial services industry, most recently as the Deputy CEO of IBAG for Money Transfer Solutions.
“We are thrilled to be investing in a company that is paving a new path to capital for Egypt,” Acasia Ventures Managing Partner Aly El Shalakany remarked.
