Islamic fintech Wahed Invest raises $25 mln in round led by VC arm of Saudi Aramco

Wahed Invest, a U.S.-based Islamic investment platform, has raised $25 million in a funding round led by Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures, the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco.

The round also includes existing investors BECO and CueBall Capital, as well as Dubai Cultiv8, and Rasameel, Wahed said in a statement on Monday (June 8).

The fintech said the funds will be used to drive the company’s global expansion, namely in developing the company’s subsidiary in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures, also known as Wa’ed Ventures, said Wahed Invest is helping to broaden the investment landscape.

“This latest funding round will enable Wahed to make Saudi their regional MENA hub and contribute towards a fast-growing FinTech ecosystem,” said Wa’ed managing director Wassim Basrawi.

It was recently given the Kingdom’s first robo-advisory permit to launch in the country.

Wahed Invest told Salaam Gateway in May it has licenses in nine jurisdictions and currently operates in Malaysia, USA and the UK. It will be releasing its UK app later this year, it said in May.

The Shariah-compliant robo-advisor said in Monday’s statement it now has more than 100,000 clients globally and future growth plans include the largest Muslim markets Indonesia, Nigeria, India, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

© SalaamGateway.com 2020 All Rights Reserved