Ethis Global Sdn Bhd, which operates regulated Shariah-compliant crowdfunding platforms in Indonesia and Malaysia and social finance platform GlobalSadaqah, has announced the closure of its 6.8 million ringgit ($1.7 million) pre-Series A fundraising round.
This funding round comes hot on the heels of Ethis’ recent appointment of Amra Mohd as the Chairman of the newly established Ethis Investment Management, Ethis said in a statement on Thursday.
This ‘Super Angel’ round included leaders and executives from Islamic finance and fund management across various jurisdictions. Notable investors include corporate leader Wan Zulkiflee, former President and Group Chief Executive Officer of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and Daud Vicary Abdullah, a “renowned figure and thought-leader” in Islamic finance and banking, both from Malaysia, and Dubai-based Khurram Hilal, CEO of global Islamic banking at an international bank.
Ethis Group Chairman of Advisors Mohd Radzif Mohd Yunus said: “Our global ambition and focus on impact has attracted new shareholders who bring tremendous experience and relationships to our group. This we believe will propel growth for years to come.”
In 2022, Ethis intends to expand its offerings in Indonesia and Malaysia to include agriculture and ‘Waqf’ issuers and projects.
The funds will be used to scale up operations in existing markets, acquire licenses and set up in new jurisdictions, and develop new technology as part of the group’s planned milestones leading up to their full Group Series A round where Ethis targets to raise $10 million from institutional and strategic corporate investors.
Founded in 2014 as a private investment club in Singapore, Ethis is a Malaysia-headquartered Islamic FinTech company focused on sustainable and impactful crowd-investments, financing, and donations. It is operating regulated platforms in Malaysia and Indonesia and has also secured regulatory approvals in Dubai and Qatar.
Ethis Indonesia has been operating since 2015, matching retail investors from more than 50 countries into impact-investment campaigns, initially focused on property development for social housing and more recently introducing SME supply-chain projects.
“This synergy, we believe, will be the key to our growth and success. Ethis is on track to prove the commercial viability of our high-impact FinTech model based on Islamic finance principles,” Ethis Group Founder Umar Munshi said.
Ethis Group operates investment platforms approved by regulators in Indonesia and Malaysia, together with charity platform GlobalSadaqah.
Its platforms serve ordinary people, high-net-worth individuals, corporates, and government entities. Ethis built its initial track record from 2016 to 2020 in social housing in Indonesia where its global community of investors from more than 50 countries funded development projects to build close to 100,000 homes.
Since the onset of COVID-19, it has launched new investment products, including short-term, high-yield supply-chain financing projects in Indonesia and equity investment in ‘future tech’ startups in Malaysia. It said its social finance marketplace GlobalSadaqah plays a vital role in matching donors and Islamic economy players to better distribute social finance and zakat to non-governmental organizations and social enterprises.