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Munify, a cross-border digital bank founded by Egyptian entrepreneur Khalid Ashmawy, has raised $3 million in seed funding to expand its services for Egyptians living abroad.
Ashmawy’s Munify expands with new funding
The round was led by Y Combinator with participation from BYLD, Digital Currency Group, and other investors. The funds will be used to grow Munify’s engineering and compliance teams, strengthen regulatory and banking partnerships, and expand into new regional markets.
Launched just a year ago, Munify is building a digital bank tailored for Egyptians overseas. Its platform allows instant, low-cost remittances to Egypt, U.S. account opening, debit cards, and protection against currency volatility.
Ashmawy said remittances remain a vital financial lifeline for millions of Egyptians, yet the process is still expensive and fragmented. “We want to make global banking and payments simpler and more affordable for Egyptians, no matter where they are,” he said.
Munify expands into global banking links
A participant in Y Combinator’s Summer 2025 batch, Munify has already signed up thousands of users and secured contracts with mid-sized companies, deals that could support more than $50 million in projected monthly cross-border payments. With its fresh capital, the company is preparing to deepen ties with regulators and banks in the U.S., U.K., Europe, and the Gulf.
Egypt ranks among the world’s top remittance destinations, with annual inflows of more than $30 billion. Munify hopes to capture part of that market by offering a faster, cheaper alternative to established players such as Western Union and MoneyGram.
To do so, it is developing its own payment infrastructure to connect banks across borders, aiming to reduce settlement times while generating revenue from FX spreads, interchange, and transaction fees.
Building finance infrastructure across borders
Ashmawy, who previously worked at Microsoft and Uber and co-founded the UAE proptech firm Huspy, started Munify in 2024 to address the high costs and delays that burden traditional remittance services. With Y Combinator’s backing and new funding, he plans to position the company as a bridge between Egyptians abroad and the businesses and families who rely on their support at home.
For Ashmawy, the vision is not just about payments. He sees Munify evolving into core financial infrastructure for both individuals and small businesses. The immediate focus, however, is on proving demand, securing licenses, and scaling across borders—work that could anchor the startup in one of the world’s largest and most important remittance corridors.
