Wahed, a robo-advisory service that aims to provide an efficient, reliable and accessible Shari’ah compliant investment platform to investors, has raised $25m.
The funding round was led by Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures (Wa’ed Ventures) and BECO Capital. It included participation from Cue Ball Capital, Dubai Cultiv8 and members of family offices in the GCC. The funds will be used to fuel the company’s global expansion, namely in developing the company’s subsidiary in Saudi Arabia into its MENA headquarter.
The company raised its Bridge round in September 2019, which followed a $7m Series A round in November 2017 (involving BECO Capital and Cue Ball Capital) and a $8m Series B round in October 2018 (again, BECO Capital and Cue Ball Capital).
Founded in 2015, Wahed is the world’s leading robo-advisory service aimed toward Muslim investors with a Sharia-compliant online investment platform which will give clients the opportunity to seek advice on securities, or investment scheme, through direct access to an automated online platform.
In 2019, Wahed moved into Malaysia and now serves over 50,000 customers there, with future growth plans for the largest Muslim markets including Indonesia, Nigeria and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Wahed was recently awarded the first Robo-Advisory experimental permit by the Saudi Arabian financial regulator, the Capital Markets Authority, to launch its platform in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Wassim Basrawi, Managing Director at Wa’ed Ventures, said: “We believe in Wahed’s mission to provide ethical investing. The company has taken the lead in delivering investment services to one of the world’s fastest growing sectors – Islamic Finance. Wahed is also, in the true spirit of FinTech, 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.”
