Latest news with #AhmadHammouda
Fintech News ME
20-05-2025
- Business
- Fintech News ME
Egypt's Thndr Raises $15.7M to Expand Investment Platform in MENA
Thndr, a Cairo-based digital investment platform, has raised US$15.7 million in new funding to support its regional expansion across the Middle East and North Africa. The round was led by Prosus Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, BECO Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, JIMCO, Raba, and Onsi Sawiris, as well as a major US university endowment. This brings Thndr's total funding to US$37.76 million since its founding in 2020. Founded by Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr, Thndr allows users in the region to invest in local and international stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and other financial products through a mobile-based platform designed to lower barriers to entry. With this new capital, the company plans to expand its presence in the United Arab Emirates and enter the Saudi Arabian market. Thndr aims to introduce locally relevant investment products to attract first-time and underserved investors. In Egypt, the platform has grown to represent 11% of retail trading volume on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) in 2024, with a traded value of US$3.5 billion. It was the starting point for 82% of new retail investors on the EGX last year and onboarded more than 190,000 individuals. Thndr also manages 47% of assets in local gold mutual funds. Female participation on the platform increased from 3% to 12%, with greater uptake among users outside major cities. Thndr CEO, Ahmad Hammouda said, 'Our mission is to provide access to local, regional, and international investment products through one wallet and one account, making investing as seamless and inclusive as possible. With only 2 percent of individuals in MENA investing, we believe the time is now to build the region's leading investment-first money app, a platform that helps people build wealth, make confident decisions, and live life on their own terms.'
CairoScene
17-05-2025
- Business
- CairoScene
Thndr Unveils Major Product Lineup at Egypt's First Fintech Keynote
Thndr's debut keynote unveiled its boldest moves yet: a $15.7M raise, a trading platform designed by traders, and a guided investing product to support the region's next wave of investors. Sergio Zorayan, Product Manager at Thndr; Ahmad Hammouda, Co-founder and CEO of Thndr; Abdelrahman Azzam, Chief of Staff at Thndr; Youssef Maged, Engineering Manager at Thndr In a dimly lit auditorium in Cairo, under the banner 'El Qessa Betkabr' - The Story is Growing - Egypt's leading investment platform did something no fintech in the country has done before: it threw a product keynote. Not a press event. Not a demo day. A full-scale, founder-led, Silicon-Valley-style keynote. The kind of high-gloss rollout you'd expect from Apple, Canva, or Airbnb. Except this wasn't Cupertino or San Francisco. This was the Cairo Marriott, in Zamalek, an island on the Nile in the heart of the city - and it marked a watershed moment for MENA's maturing fintech ecosystem. More than 300 Thndr users, partners, and investors packed the space. And they weren't just there for a product drop. They were there for what Thndr - and this moment - represented. 'We started Thndr with a big dream,' CEO and Co-founder Ahmad Hammouda told the crowd. 'This region, this country can build extraordinary things.' They've come a long way. From a small team securing Egypt's first new brokerage license in over a decade, to a 4 million+ user platform now aiming to become the region's most impactful financial institution. This keynote wasn't just a showcase. It was a stake in the ground, a declaration that local fintech is growing up, and Thndr wants to lead the charge. A Platform That Grows With You The first announcement of the night was Thndr Alpha, a guided investing tool built to serve what Hammouda calls 'the 80%' - the majority of users who are investing for the first time. Alpha is designed to simplify that intimidating first step: from goal setting to risk comfort, to personalised starter portfolios made up of equities, gold, and fixed income. 'It's not just another feature,' Hammouda said. 'It's the foundation for something much bigger.' Alpha is launching in phases, but the long game is clear: a fully guided, personalised investment journey - not just access, but clarity and confidence, built around each user's needs. This evolution from democratising access to delivering tailored financial experiences is no accident. It reflects something larger: a shift in what the region's retail investors are ready for - and what they now expect. From Brokerage to Institution The second reveal took things further up the value chain. Thndr announced that it has formally applied for an asset management license in Egypt - a move that positions the company to begin building and managing its own investment products. 'We're not just building an app,' said Chief of Staff Abdelrahman Azzam. 'We're building a full-fledged financial institution.' In other words: Thndr doesn't just want to give users tools. It wants to be the institution behind those tools, creating vehicles designed from the ground up for Egypt's fast-emerging investor class. It's a bet on vertical integration and on long-term relevance. ThndrX: Built by a Trader, Not Just for Traders The keynote's hero moment came with the reveal of ThndrX, a pro-grade trading platform, desktop-first, engineered for serious traders. But what made the reveal hit harder was who presented it: Sergio Zorayan, a former prop trader turned Thndr product manager, whose own experiences shaped the platform from the inside out. 'I couldn't find the basics,' he said. 'No solid platforms. No real tools. Nothing built for real traders. So we built the platform we always wished existed.' ThndrX is unapologetically performance-driven. It's fast. Precise. Built around what traders actually need - not what brokerage platforms think they want. 'Not to make you trade more,' Zorayan said. 'But to help you make more money.' Youssef Maged, Thndr's very first engineer, is now leading ThndrX's tech build. 'Traders are a different breed,' he said. 'Milliseconds matter.' It's a stark contrast to the noise of many trading apps - platforms that gamify volatility instead of building real tools. ThndrX wants to flip that script. The Money Behind the Mission To close the keynote, Hammouda revealed Thndr's latest raise: $15.7 million in new capital, led by Prosus, one of the largest tech investors in the world (and backers of the likes of Delivery Hero and Tencent). Also in the round: Y Combinator, BECO Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, JIMCO, Raba, and the endowment fund of the world's top engineering university. Egyptian investor Onsi Sawiris also joined. 'This isn't just money,' Hammouda said. 'This is a message - that our mission matters.' The new funding brings Thndr's total capital raised to $37.76 million - serious firepower as it expands products and deepens its regional footprint. A Bigger Story, and a Region Ready to Hear It For all the product reveals and funding headlines, the keynote's real story was this: the region's retail investment culture is maturing. And so is its infrastructure. We're watching a shift from 'let's get people to invest' to 'let's help them invest well.' From platforms that are feature-rich to platforms that are user-smart. From copycat fintech to homegrown innovation. And Thndr - with its blend of swagger, substance, and local soul - is proving that the next wave of fintech leadership might not come from the usual places. 'The story is growing,' Hammouda told the crowd as the lights dimmed. 'And we're just getting started.'
