Sahl
Sahl is an Egyptian fintech that operates a mobile app and B2B payment gateway enabling consumers to pay utility bills and recharge prepaid electricity, gas, and water meters via NFC, while allowing partner companies to embed utility payment services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- Headquarters6 October City, Egypt
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Sahl does
Sahl is an Egyptian fintech founded in December 2019 (legal entity Sahlpay) that operates a dual consumer and B2B utility payment platform built around NFC technology. Its core product is a mobile application that allows Egyptian consumers to recharge prepaid electricity, gas, and water cards directly from their phones via NFC, and to pay bills for more than 200 services spanning electricity (all nine Egyptian distribution companies), water, gas, telecommunications, internet, landline, education, TV subscriptions, gaming, transportation, and donations. Transactions on the consumer app are settled through Visa, MasterCard, Meeza, and digital wallets and complete in under one minute, versus an average roughly 20-minute wait at traditional payment outlets.
The company's second product line is a B2B payment gateway that enables partner companies to embed Sahl's utility payment and payment acceptance capabilities into their own platforms. The gateway is integrated by more than 20 named partners including Paymob, Telda, Trella, Maxab, Damen, and O-pay, spanning fintech, e-commerce, logistics, and retail verticals. Strategic alliances with Egyptian electricity providers, gas operators (Petrotrade, NatGas, Taqa), and telecom carriers (WE, Vodafone, Orange, Etisalat by e&) underpin the platform's coverage.
Sahl monetizes primarily through transaction fees on bill payments and recharges processed via the consumer app and B2B gateway; the consumer app is free to download and supported by referral and cashback promotions. The company employs 51-100 staff, operates from Cairo/6 October City, launched in the UAE, and is expanding to Saudi Arabia following a $6 million Series A and seed funding round closed in June 2024, led by Ayady for Investment and Development with participation from E-Finance, Egypt Pay, and El-Delta Electronic Systems.
Sahl firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Sahl
- Legal name
- Sahlpay
- Website
- https://sahlpay.app
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Sahl is an Egyptian fintech that operates a mobile app and B2B payment gateway enabling consumers to pay utility bills and recharge prepaid electricity, gas, and water meters via NFC, while allowing partner companies to embed utility payment services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Sahl industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Mobile Bill Payment Platform
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Utility & Municipal Billing Platforms (FSAMAJAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Prepay Metering & Customer Payment Solutions (EUADAFAL), Payment Processing & Cash Management (ACH, Cards, Lockbox) (EUAJAHAD)
Keywords
Where Sahl is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- 6 October City
- HQ country
- Egypt
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices1 record
Markets served
Sahl business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Utility Bill Payment Processing: Sahl charges transaction fees on bill payments and utility recharges processed through its platform, both via its consumer app and its B2B payment gateway offered to partner companies.
- B2B Payment Gateway Services: Sahl provides businesses with an integrated payment gateway enabling them to offer utility payment services to their own customers, generating revenue through transaction processing fees.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Consumer App - Free to download and use for bill payment and meter recharging |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
Sahl product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Sahl provides a mobile payment platform that enables Egyptian consumers to recharge prepaid electricity, gas, and water meters directly from their phones using NFC technology and to pay over 200 utility and service bills in a single app. The company also operates a B2B payment gateway that allows partner companies to embed Sahl's utility payment infrastructure into their own platforms.
Product overview
Sahl operates as a dual consumer and B2B fintech platform offering Egypt's first NFC-enabled mobile utility payment solution. The core product portfolio consists of a Consumer App for individual users to recharge electricity, gas, and water cards and pay bills for over 200 services, alongside a B2B Payment Gateway that allows partner companies (including Damen, Maxab, O-pay, Paymob, Telda, and Trella) to integrate and deliver public utility payment services to their own customers. The platform covers electricity, water, gas, telecommunications (mobile and landline), internet, installments, transportation, micro-finance, donations, education, TV subscriptions, and gaming services, accepting payment methods including Visa, MasterCard, Meeza, and digital wallets.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Sahl Consumer App
- Sahl B2B Payment Gateway
Quantifiable outcome
- Prepaid meter recharging completed in under 1 minute compared to an average 20-minute wait at traditional payment outlets
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Sahl
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Sahl technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Sahl partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- PaymobcoreSahl partners with Paymob to provide utility payment services through Paymob's platform, enabling Paymob's customers to access Sahl's payment infrastructure for utility bill payments and prepaid meter recharging.
- TeldacoreTelda has partnered with Sahl to deliver public utility payment services to its customers through Sahl's integrated platform.
- TrellaminorTrella uses Sahl's platform to provide utility payment services to its customers, expanding Trella's service offering with Sahl's utility payment infrastructure.
- MaxabminorMaxab partners with Sahl to deliver public utility payment services to Maxab's customers via Sahl's integrated platform.
- DamenminorDamen uses Sahl's platform to offer public utility payment services to its customers.
- O-payminorO-pay leverages Sahl's payment infrastructure to provide utility bill payment services to O-pay customers.
- Government Utilities and Financial Service ProviderscoreSahl forms strategic alliances with government agencies and financial service providers to facilitate utility payments. The company collaborates with electricity providers (North Cairo, South Cairo, Canal, Alexandria, Middle Egypt, Upper Egypt, Beheira, North Delta, South Delta), water companies, gas providers (Petrotrade, NatGas, Taqa), and telecom operators (WE, Vodafone, Orange, Etisalat by e&).
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Sahl competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
Direct peers
- Fawry: Egypt's dominant bill-payment and e-payments network with the largest retail and digital biller footprint. Directly comparable as a multi-biller utility and telecom payment platform targeting both consumers and merchants in Egypt.
- Paymob: Egyptian payment gateway serving merchants and platforms with online and bill-payment acceptance. Comparable as a B2B payments infrastructure provider; also one of Sahl's named B2B partners, making it a both peer and customer.
- MNT-Halan: Egyptian fintech offering consumer lending, payments, and merchant acquiring with broad bill-payment capabilities. Comparable as a multi-product Egyptian fintech competing for the same consumer utility-payment relationship.
Emerging players
- Telda: Egyptian digital bank/neobank offering bill payments and financial services via a mobile app. Comparable as a mobile-first consumer finance platform and is also a Sahl B2B partner, illustrating channel overlap.
- Khazna: Egyptian fintech providing buy-now-pay-later, bill payments, and financial services to underbanked consumers via mobile. Comparable as an Egyptian consumer fintech that overlaps with Sahl's utility bill-payment and installment use cases.
Broad incumbents
- E-Finance for Digital Investments: State-linked Egyptian operator of national electronic payment networks and government collection infrastructure. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the same utility and government payments ecosystem; also a Series A co-investor in Sahl.
- Vodafone Cash: Mobile-money service operated by Vodafone Egypt with millions of users and broad bill-payment functionality. Comparable as a telecom-led fintech with deep distribution that competes for the same utility-payment flow.
Regional players
- Careem Pay: UAE-born super-app offering ride-hailing, deliveries, and bill payments across the Middle East. Comparable as a regional multi-service platform with bill-payment features in the same GCC geographies Sahl is expanding into.
- STC Pay (now Mada): Saudi-based digital wallet from STC providing bill payments, transfers, and merchant services. Comparable as a regional player in Sahl's Saudi expansion market with overlapping utility-payment functionality.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Sahl social profiles
Digital presenceSahl financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Sahl leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Sahl funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Sahl M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Sahl
What does Sahl do?
Sahl provides a mobile payment platform that enables Egyptian consumers to recharge prepaid electricity, gas, and water meters directly from their phones using NFC technology and to pay over 200 utility and service bills in a single app. The company also operates a B2B payment gateway that allows partner companies to embed Sahl's utility payment infrastructure into their own platforms.
Is Sahl a public or private company?
Sahl is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Sahl founded?
Sahl was founded in 2019. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Sahl based?
Sahl is headquartered in 6 October City, Egypt, in the Africa region.
How does Sahl make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Utility Bill Payment Processing is the primary driver. The others are B2B Payment Gateway Services.
Who are Sahl's main competitors?
Orange Money Egypt is listed as an others. Direct peers are Fawry, Paymob and MNT-Halan. Emerging players are Telda and Khazna. Broad incumbents are E-Finance for Digital Investments and Vodafone Cash. Regional players are Careem Pay and STC Pay (now Mada).
Does Sahl have an API?
No public API is recorded for Sahl.
What industry is Sahl in?
Sahl's product category is Mobile Bill Payment Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAMAJAG, Utility & Municipal Billing Platforms, with a secondary code of EUADAFAL, Prepay Metering & Customer Payment Solutions. Its NAICS code is 518 and its SIC code is 7372.