Newswrap: Islamic finance

$17.6 million raised for fintech in Pakistan’s largest-ever seed round; ESG-linked sukuk on growth trajectory; Pakistan makes payment on Sharjah Islamic Bank sukuk; Oman’s Islamic banking sector reports double-digit growth.

$17.6 million raised for fintech in Pakistan’s largest-ever seed round

Islamabad-based fintech Dbank raised $17.6 million in Pakistan’s largest seed round, reported Bloomberg. The funding round was co-led by Sequoia Capital Southeast Asia and Kleiner Perkins, with Askari Bank Ltd, Brazil’s Nubank, and Rayn also involved. Pakistan has the world’s third largest unbanked population, which the fintech hopes to target and then expand to other Muslim-majority countries. “Pakistan has a fast-growing middle class with increasingly sophisticated banking needs. This signals a unique opportunity to build a large, customer-centric bank for millions of people,” Sequoia Southeast Asia’s Vice President, Johan Surani, is quoted as saying. Start-up financing is burgeoning in the Islamic Republic, the world’s fifth most populated country, attracting $350 million last year.