enza raises $6m Seed+ round led by 4DX Ventures

enza, a UAE-headquartered payments fintech, has raised $6 million in a Seed+ round led by 4DX Ventures. British International Investment, the UK’s development finance institution, joined as a new investor. Quona Capital and Algebra Ventures, which co-led enza’s $6.75 million seed round in March 2025, both increased their positions.

The Abu Dhabi-headquartered company was founded in 2023 by Hany Fekry and Hamish Houston. It sells payment infrastructure to banks and fintechs and has regional offices in Egypt, South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria. Its bank and fintech clients operate across 12 African countries.

enza gives financial institutions digital payment services through a single platform integration. The technology covers payment acceptance, transaction processing, fraud detection and other payment services. A bank can modernise its systems while keeping control of customer relationships and data.

enza’s product line is meant to let a bank or fintech add payment services without building every connection itself. The company says the platform covers acceptance, processing and fraud detection, and it can support other services as they emerge. That matters for institutions that want to keep their own customer relationships and data while using outside infrastructure for the pipes.

Why the infrastructure decision matters

A bank’s choice of payments infrastructure shapes its market propositions, its differentiation and the markets where it can make a profit. Switching providers is costly. Regulators scrutinise payments outsourcing, which makes vendor selection a compliance question as much as a technology one. Until recently, banks had limited options and relied largely on legacy providers. New payments infrastructure providers use modern architectures to offer speed, lower operating costs and faster time to market. enza is described as leading the way on payments infrastructure in Africa.

Legacy systems can be slow to change, and a bank that wants to launch a new payment product often has to work through old integrations. Modern infrastructure providers sell speed and lower operating costs, but they also take on a regulated function. Banks weigh references and regulatory comfort alongside price. Trust carries weight for that reason.

For a bank, the decision ties part of its product roadmap, compliance posture and customer experience to one vendor. That raises the cost of a poor choice and explains why a track record with banks, schemes and regulators carries weight.

What the Seed+ funding covers

The new funding will support expansion into additional African markets, the acquisition of regulatory licences, and further development of enza’s payment technology and product portfolio. enza plans to extend into markets where payments digitisation is a major opportunity and a national priority. It will seek additional licences to serve more banks and fintechs in new markets. Clients are meant to get locally relevant payment infrastructure aligned with each market’s regulatory requirements. enza says its technology is built for scale, and the funding supports continued investment in expanding its product line.

Fekry: existing investors saw delivery

Hany Fekry, enza’s Group CEO, said the company has been building the payments infrastructure partner African banks and fintechs have lacked. He said existing investors saw enza deliver and increased their capital. The backing of leading fintech investors and BII, he said, is “a powerful endorsement.” Clients gain a partner with the resources and stability to keep investing in payment capabilities, according to Fekry. He said enza remains committed to transforming the continent “one payment at a time.”

The founders’ record

Daniel Marlo, Managing Partner at 4DX Ventures, said African payments now go beyond cards and are omni-channel. Bank payment infrastructure has not kept pace, he said. enza enables banks to modernise through a single integration while keeping control of merchants and data. 4DX led the round because enza addresses a key gap in the ecosystem, Marlo said.

He pointed to the founders’ record. Fekry and Houston have done this before, Marlo said. They helped build a leading African payment processor serving banks in more than 40 African markets. They later led processing and regional operations for a large payments company after it acquired their business. That record earned trust from banks, schemes and regulators across Africa, according to Marlo, and that trust ultimately determines success in the payments industry. He said enza could become the backbone of money movement across Africa, connecting banks, merchants and consumers on one modern network.

BII’s inclusive-finance case

Chirantan Patnaik, Head of Disruptive Ventures at BII, said enza provides modern payments infrastructure to banks and financial institutions. The company helps reduce costs, broaden payment options and expand access to affordable, reliable financial services in developing markets, he said. BII’s investment reflects its focus on inclusive finance and SME support, Patnaik said, and tackles the high cost and complexity of digital payments infrastructure.

BII completed investment and ESG due diligence before joining the round. The Seed+ round was described as a vote of confidence from investors who know enza best.

enza’s next step is to secure more licences and enter more markets, with the aim of serving additional banks and fintechs on infrastructure tailored to local regulation.