VC firm Foundation Ventures is planning to invest around EGP 30 mn this year from its inaugural Egypt-focused fund, managing partner Omar Barakat told us. “We’re always interested in fintech, given that it’s growing across Egypt” and is getting a boost from the state’s drive to promote digitization and financial inclusion, Barakat said. Foundation Ventures’ EGP 100 mn fund officially launched late last year with an initial portfolio of four companies including fintech players Capiter and Nowpay, entertainment platform Minly, and logistics company Flextock. The fund was also a “major” participant in home buying platform Sakneen’s recent USD 1.1 mn seed investment round and invested in online education platform Abwaab. Foundation’s partners include Barakat, Mazen Nadim and Onsi Sawiris.

SPEAKING OF ONSI SAWIRIS: Beltone Financial is planning to focus on adding more non-banking financial services to its portfolio, but isn’t yet thinking about acquisitions, Sawiris told Hapi Journal. Sawiris, who is acting as chairman of the firm on a temporary basis, said Beltone is looking to bring in fresh management talent and test new ideas for up to two years before committing to a longer-term strategy. Beltone is undergoing a transitional phase after last month’s horizontal demerger saw its former parent company, Orascom Investment Holding (OIH), spinoff its non-bank financial services holdings into newly-created Orascom Financial Holdings (OFH), which Sawiris chairs.