Fintech and fintech-enabled startups are up for a funding boost after Mastercard closed a “strategic” investment in fintech fund Nclude, according to a press release. The investment will see Mastercard and Nclude investing in “promising early-and-growth-stage fintech and fintech enabled companies” to support digitization and financial inclusion in Egypt. An Nclude representative declined to disclose the investment size when asked by Enterprise.

The investments will cover sectors beyond pure fintech: “Our investment thesis is not only focused on fintech but also on fintech-enabled companies. This means that the companies we invest in may be operating in other sectors like agriculture, healthcare, supply chain, education, and others,” Nclude General Partner Basil Moftah told Enterprise. The companies Nclude targets have “embedded finance solutions that drive their growth and help them deliver a holistic customer experience,” Moftah said, pointing to agri-fintech business Mozare3 — which embeds financing for farmers — as an example.

About Nclude: The fund, which was launched earlier this year and reached a USD 105 mn first close last month, invests in early- and growth-stage fintech and fintech-enabled startups. The companies must be based or operating in Egypt or elsewhere in the Middle East and Africa, provided they have plans to expand to Egypt. The fund’s ticket sizes range from USD 500k to USD 5 mn, Moftah said. The fund has already invested in local startups including payment platform Paymob, financial super app Khazna, home ownership platform Partment, and Mozare3.