CASE STUDY-Alchemiya Media – Disrupting the video-on-demand market in the Muslim media sector

2015 target is 5,000 subscribers. Year 5 target is 1 million subscribers. 

Providing high quality content:

Alchemiya’s founder, Navid Akhtar, is an award-winning TV producer and a veteran of the BBC. The company maintains its high quality by hiring only the best talent.

Target audience is young, educated, urban Muslims:

The company has clearly identified its target audience and their media consumption needs: young, educated Muslims in the non-Muslim world who are digitally connected, are hungry for a positive portrayal of Islam and for programming that is new and engaging.

The founder of Alchemiya considers the needs of this important customer segment to be unmet by existing media content: “This unserved demographic (GUMmies) are clustered in cities all over the world… we seek to attract a customer base that is the vanguard of global Islam,” said Navid Akhtar, Alchemiya CEO and Founder. (Interviewed for State of the Global Islamic Economy 2014-15 report by Thomson Reuters in collaboration with DinarStandard)

Diversification of Shariah-compliant funding sources:

The company’s financing is compliant with Islamic finance principles in that it is based on equity and risk-sharing.

Initial seed funding for the platform came from individuals as well as from crowdfunded equity. Alchemiya also raised funds by selling advance subscriptions in the pre-launch phase. Navid Akhtar’s intention was to employ the “Lean Start Up” methodology and the Islamic finance principles of shared risk and ownership.

To raise funding in 2015, Alchemiya launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on CrowdCube and raised 117,320 pounds ($182,203) - more than its target.

Now that they have achieved wide media coverage, they are receiving investment inquiries from both Muslims and non-Muslims and will launch a Series A round for up to $5 million this year. 

Appealing to non-Muslims:

There is an opportunity for the channel to appeal to non-Muslims. It already has some non-Muslim subscribers as well as non-Muslim potential investors, but beyond the early adopters the company has a wider opportunity to appeal to non-Muslims, with its high quality, engaging content.

Favorable demographics:

Alchemiya is positioned to experience significant revenue growth, backed by: 1) The attractive Muslim demographics, with a young population that is growing at twice the global rate, 2) Muslims in the West keen to explore their identity, 3) Continued growth of the Muslim lifestyle sector. 

Finding and developing talent quickly enough:

The main challenge the company has faced, as it has scaled rapidly, is developing talent. In their two key areas of operation, content and marketing, they need individuals who have insight into the Muslim community, its likes, dislikes, tastes and the various sub-groups and what drives them.

“In both of these areas, there are a limited number of people who can demonstrate relevant experience and often they are in big demand. We are lucky that being based in London, we have access to skilled talent who learn fast and care about our mission to present a positive image about Islam,” said Navid Akhtar.