Sayed Elshemy, an entrepreneur with 20 years of tech experience and a portfolio of for startups under his belt, sent his two sons (13 and nine years old) to spend a fun day at Kidzania. A few hours later, he got a call from his eldest. He had spent all of the pocket money he was given by his parents, while the younger one lost his petty cash. Both children were devastated, especially since their parents weren’t there with them, and were unable to continue experiencing the activities that Kidzania provided. That’s when Sayed thought to himself: what I would give to be able to transfer them some money right now. In the back of his head, he realized that this would be an excellent startup idea. He called up his friend Mostafa Abd Elkhabir, who has 17 years of experience in marketing and market research – and he was immediately on board.
In 2022, they launched Masroofi, a closed-loop wallet, accompanied with an NFC card, that allows children and young teens to pay or retrieve money that their parents transfer to them through specific POS machines. Eligible for children between the ages of five and 15. Parents download the app, create an account, and order cards for their children. Once cards are received and activated, parents can top up the card, as needed, and monitor what their children spend the money on, as well as set limits to spending. Certain closed communities, such as schools, clubs and compounds, can install the Masroofi POS machines on their campus or complexes, which children can then use to buy food, for instance.
That’s how Masroofi started out – but their journey changed drastically. Fast-forward one year: Masroofi graduated from the 10th cohort of EGBank’s MINT incubator, which is run by Acasia Impact. The startup had joined the incubator right after it validated its idea, and today boasts 500 card holders.
Fast-forward another few weeks: Sayed and Mostafa pitched their startup at the renowned reality TV show Shark Tank Egypt. The “sharks” loved the idea, and offered EGP 16 million in exchange for 40% of the company. “It was only because of MINT’s educational sessions about financial terms and agreements that we understood that this offer was not right for us at this time,” according to Sayed. However, both founders thought it wasn’t viable to give away such a large chunk of the company in the first funding round.
“And it’s great we decided that,” Sayed explained. A few weeks later, Masroofi announced it had raised EGP 45 million from angel investors for a much smaller stake. “These investors said they wouldn’t have even talked to us if we would have accepted the Shark Tank offer, because the equity stake was just too big.”
So, how did the Acasia Impact team tangibly help Masroofi drive forward its payment solution and penetrate the market through the MINT incubator?
#1 Pivot when the time is right: Throughout Masroofi’s time at MINT, they were able to receive mentorship from experts in the fintech scene, including the ones at EGBank. These experts recommended the team turn their solution into a normal banking card, instead of just a wallet, in order to widen the network of accepting payment providers. That way, children can use it to make purchases online, through a large network of POS machines or extract money from the ATM. This takes away the hassle for Masroofi of having to own assets, such as POS machines, and streamlines the payment process.
#2 Expanded payment network: Through MINT Incubator, Acasia Impact enabled Masroofi to become an accepted payment solution, not only on the company’s own machines, but also on 60% of POS machines, including payment providers like Fawry and Paymob.
#3 New partnerships: Acasia Impact, through MINT Incubator, introduced Masroofi to M2P, a company that empowers fintechs, banks, and businesses with custom APIs to provide a wide range of financial services. This allowed Masroofi to align its business model with regulations set forth by the Central Bank of Egypt in order to obtain an operation license, and talk to a multitude of banks. This partnership is just one of many that Acasia Impact facilitated, which allowed the startup to formally set up an entity, build a strong relationship with potential and new partners and widen its network of supportive service providers, such as legal firms.
#4 Educational sessions: Acasia Impact provides its startup cohorts with an array of business classes and educational sessions, such as marketing, finances, and legal terms, to prepare these businesses for their journey ahead. This allowed Masroofi to realize that the deal they were offered by Shark Tank Egypt was not suitable for their stage.
The ultimate goal: enhancing financial literacy for youth and helping them understand how to manage their money. Masroofi is out to go as far as building an academy for children that teaches them about currencies, saving plans and spending management.
