Money Fellows: Bringing Egypt's Traditional Gameya to the Digital Age

For years in Egypt, fintech promised to be the great equaliser. Beyond speed and convenience, startups challenged the status quo of powerful, traditional financial systems embedded into the very fabric of society. They promised a revolution to usher in democratisation of financial tools and services.

At the forefront of this movement stands Money Fellows, a platform that didn’t look to invent a new behaviour but rather to digitise and secure one of the oldest communal financial traditions in Egypt: the ‘gameya’, or Rotating Savings and Credit Association (ROSCA) - an informal financial group that sees members contribute a set amount regularly, with one member taking the entire pot each cycle, providing a lump sum. Founded in 2017 by Ahmed Wadi, the company set out to solve the risks and pain points of these informal circles - such as participants dropping out or the lack of legal recourse - by packaging them in a sophisticated, credit-scored and regulated digital ecosystem. They changed handshake agreements into legally binding, app-based contracts, with the company allowing Egyptians to save and borrow without the barriers or high interest rates of traditional banking.

The growth of Money Fellows has been driven by a consistent investment trajectory. After an initial period of proving the concept, the startup secured a $4 million Series A in 2020, which served as a springboard for rapid scaling. This was followed by a landmark $31 million Series B round in late 2022, led by the likes of CommerzVentures and Middle East Venture Partners.

By early 2026, the company’s total funding had surpassed the $60 million mark following a fresh $13 million investment specifically earmarked for regional expansion into North African markets like Morocco. These investments have allowed the company to move beyond simple money circles, diversifying its portfolio to include a proprietary prepaid card launched in partnership with Banque Misr and a suite of smart saving solutions that cater to the evolving needs of its users.

The hybrid model of tradition and technology is best measured by its role as a bridge to formal financial inclusion. For many of its 1 million active monthly users, the platform serves as their first interaction with a regulated financial entity, operating under the supervision of the Central Bank of Egypt’s Regulatory Sandbox. Having surpassed $1.5 billion in total transactions and completing more than 2 million digital money circles by the end of 2025, Money Fellows has helped move billions of pounds from the informal under-the-mattress economy into a transparent, tracked ecosystem. This transition goes beyond digitising cash, and builds a digital footprint for the unbanked, allowing them to establish creditworthiness and plan for life’s major milestones with a level of security and dignity that the old informal systems could never quite guarantee.

In this episode of StartupScene series, Behind the Startup Ahmed Wadi - joined by Ahmed Osman, CMO & VP Sales & Marketing, and Nelly Movine VP Finance - breaks down the journey, the challenges, and the vision behind the growth of Money Fellows.