Microsoft And Uber Alum Raises $3m For Yc-backed Munify, A Neobank For The Egyptian Diaspora

Khalid Ashmawy remembers nan first clip he wired money location while studying successful Europe.

He had conscionable received his monthly stipend arsenic a master’s student successful Stuttgart and wanted to nonstop portion of it backmost to his family successful Cairo. It was usually a slow and costly process, he recalled. A $400 ligament transfer, for instance, could costs $40 successful fees and return 3 business days to arrive.

Years later, while moving astatine Microsoft and Uber successful nan U.S., and moreover aft founding a startup, that acquisition hadn’t improved much.

The persistent symptom constituent crossed different stages of his profession yet inspired Ashmawy to motorboat Munify, a cross-border neobank designed to springiness Egyptians overseas a faster, cheaper measurement to nonstop money location and, for residents successful nan country, entree to U.S. banking.

Earlier this year, nan startup joined Y Combinator’s Summer 2025 batch, a uncommon entrant from extracurricular nan U.S. and 1 of nan fewer without a halfway AI transportation successful a people dominated by generative AI startups. The institution besides raised $3 cardinal successful seed backing from nan accelerator and different location investors, including BYLD and DCG. 

“Banking wasn’t built for group for illustration me. It’s very costly, takes a agelong time, and is fragmented,” nan laminitis and main executive told TechCrunch successful an interview. “It’s a problem I person personally knowledgeable and 1 that resonates pinch a batch of group who want to nonstop money backmost location quickly and efficiently.”

Ashmawy grew up successful Egypt, studied machine science, and developed a heavy emotion for package early on. A danasiwa took him to Europe, wherever he completed 2 master’s degrees successful Germany and Switzerland.

From there, he spent 7 years arsenic an technologist and squad leader astatine Microsoft and Uber — experiences that opened his eyes to nan world of disruptive technologies and startups.

His adjacent measurement was inevitable. In 2019, Ashmawy near Uber to launch Founders Fund–backed Huspy, a proptech level focused connected mortgages successful nan Middle East, serving arsenic its main exertion serviceman until 2022.

Leaving Huspy gave him abstraction to bespeak connected his ain migrant journey. Once again, nan rumor of remittances loomed large. Meanwhile, successful different emerging markets, platforms for illustration Nigeria’s LemFi and India’s Aspora were already taking off, helping migrants from those countries nonstop money backmost home.

Egypt is 1 of nan world’s largest remittance markets, receiving astir $30 cardinal successful inflows annually.

While slope wires and accepted remittance platforms specified arsenic Western Union and MoneyGram stay nan ascendant options, Munify hopes to beryllium nan first prime successful a increasing harvest of integer banks that committedness cheaper and faster transfers. 

According to Ashmawy, Munify serves Egyptians overseas — chiefly successful nan U.S., U.K., Europe, and nan Gulf — who want to nonstop money location instantly and astatine amended rates.

Munify besides provides businesses, distant workers, and freelancers successful nan Middle East a measurement to unfastened a U.S. slope relationship and paper utilizing only a section ID to person and walk money, arsenic good arsenic hedge against section rate volatility.

“The main logic why we’re different is that we’re building our ain rails and straight connecting nan banking systems crossed different countries,” nan CEO told TechCrunch, adding that nan platform, which conscionable launched 2 weeks ago, is already seeing early take done connection of rima pinch thousands of sign-ups.

“We’ve really tailored this acquisition for group from nan region,” said Ashmawy.

On nan business side, Munify has signed contracts pinch mid-sized companies and enterprises, representing a projected $50+ cardinal successful monthly cross-border volume, according to Ashmawy. 

The startup, which operates connected a dual user and business exemplary (offering remittance and banking services for individuals, while providing APIs for businesses to nonstop and person cross-border payments), plans to grow beyond Egypt to different Middle Eastern and adjacent countries, gradually stitching together location banking rails.

Its gross comes from FX spreads, interchange, and costs flows.

Y Combinator’s batches complete nan past mates of years person favored AI and developer devices from nan United States. So, really did nan Egyptian fintech get in? Ashmawy credits nan acute quality of nan problem.

“If you’re solving a large and urgent problem, that’s what really matters, sloppy of whether nan existent activity is AI aliases thing else,” he said.

But there’s precedent for this backing arsenic well. YC has historically invested successful startups solving difficult financial infrastructure problems, from Stripe to Coinbase. Similarly, remittances are 1 of nan astir entrenched symptom points successful world finance and 1 of nan accelerator’s accordant attraction areas erstwhile backing startups from emerging markets (case successful point: LemFi and Aspora) earlier its caller AI tilt.

In nan midst of that, Munify represented a chance to backmost a laminitis pinch acquisition astatine 2 U.S. tech giants, a way grounds of building 1 of MENA’s apical proptech companies, and a individual relationship to nan problem.