How to Raise Funding as a Tunisian Fintech: A 2026 Guide

Raising money as a Tunisian fintech in 2026 means dealing with a small investor base, a regulator that controls your licence, and foreign-exchange rules that shape your corporate structure. This guide sets out the options in order, from non-dilutive support to Series A, using the figures funds and institutions have published.

Know the market before you raise funding

Be realistic about the numbers. Tunisian startups raised a little over $24 million in 2024 (Startup Genome, via La Presse) and $39 million across 17 deals in 2025 (AVCA). In the first half of 2026, Launch Base Africa found almost no disclosed equity rounds. In practice:

• Most local rounds are pre-seed or seed, from tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand euros.
• A Series A almost always needs foreign co-investors.
• Expect a long process, and raise before you run short of cash.

Step 1: Get the Startup Act label

The label created by Law No. 2018-20 and Decree 2018-840 is the starting point for most local investors and programmes (see the Startup Act explained). According to a 2022 legal summary by BK Associés, the main criteria are:

• the company is no more than 8 years old, with up to 100 employees and total assets and turnover of TND 15 million or less each;
• more than two-thirds of the capital is held by individuals, VC funds or similar investors;
• the business model is innovative and has strong growth potential.

Benefits relevant to fundraising include a founder grant of TND 1,000–5,000 for up to a year, corporate tax exemption and coverage of social contributions, a special foreign-currency account, an international technology card of up to TND 100,000 a year, patent-fee coverage, the ability to issue convertible bonds, a capital-gains tax exemption for investors and a guarantee fund that covers part of VC investments. The labelling committee is supposed to give its opinion within 30 days. Check current rules on startup.gov.tn, since circulars change.

Step 2: Clarify your regulatory path

For a fintech, regulation often decides whether you can raise at all. Investors will ask:

• Do you need a payment institution or e-money licence, or can you partner with a licensed bank or PSP (see payment institutions)?
• Are you eligible for the BCT regulatory sandbox, and what can you test there?
• How will you meet AML/CFT and e-KYC requirements?

A one-page "regulatory roadmap" with milestones and capital requirements reduces investors' perceived risk more than any growth chart.

Step 3: Pre-seed: accelerators and small cheques

• Flat6Labs Tunis: up to TND 200,000 at entry, with possible follow-on of TND 200,000–800,000.
• 216 Capital Venture Accelerator by Plug and Play (launched September 2025): up to 20 startups, €50,000 each.
• Corporate fintech programmes such as Visa's Africa Fintech Accelerator, which Konnect Networks joined before its 2025 round.

At this stage, angels and former startup employees also matter. After the Expensya exit, some of its employees invested in the founders' next company.

Step 4: Seed: the ANAVA-backed funds

Most local seed capital now comes through funds backed by the ANAVA fund of funds:

• 216 Capital Fund I: generalist, about 50 startups, average tickets of about €100,000.
• Go Live Fund (Go Big Partners): €8 million for 36 early-stage B2B startups.
• Titan Seed Fund I (Medin): deep tech, tickets of €300,000–650,000.
• New Era Fund I (UGFS): aimed at Series A in AI, biotech and green tech. UGFS also led fintech PAYDAY's pre-seed round in 2025.

See venture capital in Tunisia for the full list, including regional funds such as Janngo, LoftyInc, Silicon Badia and Rasmal that ANAVA has backed.

Step 5: Series A: go regional, structure early

At Series A, Tunisian fintechs usually raise from abroad. Konnect's 2025 round included Moroccan bank-owned Attijariwafa Ventures alongside other international investors. Many founders set up a holding company abroad. Expensya was based in Paris and InstaDeep in London. That makes foreign investment, employee stock options and exits easier, but it costs money and has tax and BCT implications. Get advice early, because restructuring after a term sheet is slow and expensive.

FX rules matter here. A December 2025 amendment would let residents hold foreign-currency accounts, but in July 2026 Launch Base Africa reported that it still depended on central bank circulars that had not been issued.

What about crowdfunding and debt?

Tunisia passed a crowdfunding law, Law No. 2020-37 of 6 August 2020, under which the CMF supervises equity crowdfunding (see crowdfunding law). Implementing texts followed in 2022, and caps reach TND 2 million per project. In practice it is still early. In June 2026, CnBees described itself to La Presse as Tunisia's first approved crowdfunding platform, approved in December 2025 for donations only. Bank debt is rarely available to early-stage startups. A Flat6Labs executive told Enterprise in 2026 that only two of its 75 investees had dealt with banks or private equity.

A practical checklist

• Startup label obtained, or the application filed.
• Regulatory roadmap: licence, partner bank or PSP, sandbox status.
• Clean cap table, with founder vesting and an option pool.
• Data room: financials, unit economics, contracts, IP, compliance policies.
• Target list matched to stage and ticket size, with 20–30 relevant funds.
• Legal advice on holding structure and FX before signing a term sheet.
• Enough runway to cover a long, uncertain process.