FinTech & SaaS Marketing

Tech IPOs in Egypt: From Fawry to MNT-Halan, and What Founders Can Learn

7 min read

Egypt has had only a handful of tech and fintech IPOs (Initial Public Offerings), but each one shaped the next. The main listings on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) are Fawry in 2019, e-finance in 2021, Valu in 2025 and MNT-Halan in 2026, while Swvl took a different route, through a US SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) in 2022.

I follow these listings as a marketer, not as an analyst. I joined Halan in 2020 as Head of Digital & Performance Marketing, was Group VP Marketing & Growth at MNT-Halan until 2024, and today I work with fintech and SaaS companies across Egypt and the Gulf. What interests me is how a company earns the trust of investors, which is not so different from earning the trust of customers.

Egypt's tech IPOs at a glance

Raya Contact Center, April 2017: an EGP 808 million offering at EGP 16.50 a share, covered 4.6 times.
Fawry, August 2019: EGP 1.64 billion for 36% of the company at EGP 6.46 a share; closed its first day up 31%.
e-finance, October 2021: EGP 5.84 billion (about $372 million) for 26.1% at EGP 13.98; closed its first day up 50.2%.
Swvl, March 2022: listed on Nasdaq through a SPAC merger at a $1.5 billion valuation.
Valu, June 2025: listed on EGX through a share distribution to EFG Holding shareholders, not a cash IPO.
MNT-Halan, October 2026: EGP 7.84 billion (about $150 million) for 20% at EGP 24.50; closed its first day up 6.6%.

Fawry (2019): the listing that opened the door

Fawry, the e-payments company, was the first EGX IPO of 2019 and set the benchmark for the fintech listings that followed. The offering was a sale of existing shares. The public tranche was covered about 30 times and the private placement about 16 times, and the stock closed its first day at EGP 8.48, up 31% from the offer price.

A year later, in August 2020, Fawry passed a $1 billion market value, with the shares up more than 300% from the IPO price. It became the reference point for every Egyptian tech company that thought about listing at home: a payments service people used every day, with a brand they already knew.

e-finance (2021): fintech infrastructure goes public

e-finance is the state-backed company behind much of Egypt's government payments infrastructure, and its listing was the first IPO under the government's IPO programme. It priced at the top of its range, EGP 13.98, and was upsized from 257.8 million to 417.8 million shares. The retail tranche was covered about 61 times and the institutional book about 6.8 times, and the stock closed its first day up 50.2%.

In pounds, e-finance raised EGP 5.84 billion. In dollars, that was about $372 million at the time, still larger than MNT-Halan's 2026 offering, because the pound has fallen sharply since then.

Swvl (2022): the Nasdaq SPAC lesson

Swvl, founded in Cairo in 2017 and later headquartered in Dubai, chose a US listing. It merged with a SPAC and began trading on Nasdaq on 31 March 2022 at a $1.5 billion valuation. The shares then collapsed: by January 2023 they were at about $0.17, roughly 98% below the $10 listing price, and the company had to do a reverse split to stay listed.

Swvl reported its first net profit in 2025, a small one of $1.31 million, after cutting the business back. The lesson for founders is not that listing abroad is wrong. It is that a big headline valuation without a profitable model leaves very little room when markets turn.

Valu (2025): a listing without an IPO

Valu, the consumer finance and BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) company, did not sell shares to the public in a classic IPO. EFG Holding distributed 20.488% of Valu to its own shareholders, trading started on 23 June 2025, and Amazon took a direct 3.95% stake. The FRA (Financial Regulatory Authority) described Valu as the first consumer finance company listed on EGX. On its first day the stock hit the daily price ceiling, about 850% above its technical reference price.

MNT-Halan (2026): the largest since 2021

MNT-Halan, often described as Egypt's first fintech unicorn (a status based on its parent group's valuation), listed 20% of its Egyptian business on 20 October 2026 under the ticker HALN. The parent sold 320 million shares at EGP 24.50. The retail tranche was covered 43.6 times and the private placement 11.2 times, with total demand of about EGP 126 billion. It is the largest Egyptian IPO in dollar terms since e-finance, and larger than e-finance in pounds. I covered the details, the risks and my own view from inside the company in the MNT-Halan IPO explained.

What these listings teach founders

Put these listings side by side and a few patterns stand out:

Real, revenue-generating businesses list well at home. Fawry, e-finance and MNT-Halan were established companies with real revenue when they listed, and investors rewarded them.
Local demand is strong. Retail tranches have been covered 30 to more than 60 times, even when foreign investors stay cautious.
The currency changes the story. The same deal can look large in pounds and small in dollars, so plan your valuation and your investor story in both.
A foreign listing is not a shortcut. Swvl's path shows that a US listing brings visibility, but also pressure a young business may not be ready for.
Brand matters to investors too. Retail investors buy names they use and trust, and years of brand building show up on subscription day.

The last point is the one marketers often forget. An IPO is also a marketing moment, and it only works when the brand has done its job for years before the bell rings. If you are building toward that day, start with a growth engine you can measure and a team built around the right goals.

What comes next

Egypt's listing pipeline is busy again, though not all of it is tech. The government plans to list three or four state-owned companies, and Banque du Caire, Misr Life Insurance and Egypt Education Platform have been named in the pipeline. EGX also listed its first SPAC, Catalyst Partners Middle East, in December 2025. For fintech, the next test is whether MNT-Halan's debut pulls in more foreign money and encourages other profitable startups to list in Cairo.

FAQ

When did Fawry list on the Egyptian Exchange?

In August 2019, as the first EGX IPO of that year. Its public tranche was covered about 30 times, and the shares rose 31% on the first day.

Which Egyptian tech company listed abroad?

Swvl, the Cairo-founded mass-transit startup, listed on Nasdaq through a SPAC merger in March 2022 at a $1.5 billion valuation. Its shares later lost about 98% of their listing value before a reverse split.

Is MNT-Halan the largest tech IPO in Egypt?

In pounds, yes: EGP 7.84 billion, against EGP 5.84 billion for e-finance in 2021. In dollars, e-finance was larger, at about $372 million against about $150 million, because of the pound's depreciation.

If you are preparing your company for growth, fundraising or a future listing and want help with marketing, positioning or the team behind it, let's talk. This article is for information only and is not investment advice.

Sources

ShareLinkedIn X