Malaysia’s Islamic lifestyle app TheNoor (Noor Luminous Sdn Bhd) aims to raise MYR5 million ($1.12 million) via Malaysian impact investment and Islamic equity crowdfunding platform, Ethis.

The potential deal will raise the firm’s pre-money valuation to $10.74 million.

TheNoor Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Mohd Izzairi Yamin said in a statement that the investment will be channeled to capitalize on a fast-growing market, increase research and development push, enhance advertising and promotion efforts as well as grow the team.

“The crowdfunding will help us refine our application so that we continue to create offerings that will nurture and enrich the lifestyles of Muslims around the globe. The halal industry is swiftly becoming a competitive and fast-moving sector globally and we want to tap this through tech,

“Tech enables more Muslims to achieve their spiritual commitment by transforming how we engage with Islam. We are continuously working on a variety of new features to create added value for our users and will see the rollout of more interactive content, educational offerings for kids, Shariah Counters Projections, an e-wallet and more,” he said.

TheNoor (which means light in Arabic) is a shariah-guided company with an aim to bring Muslims closer to Islam through continuous learning and exposure to the teachings of Islam via fresh, accessible, interactive and individualized methods.

Since launched in January 2021, the firm has already gained nearly 6 million downloads on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, empowering over 2.8 million registered users.

Aside from helping users achieve their spiritual commitment, the app brings them closer to their religion through continuous learning and exposure to the teachings of Islam through a more fresh, accessible, interactive and individualized method.

The app aims to help more Muslims live a holistic lifestyle through its variety of in-app features, which include real-time location detection to discover close-by mosques and Qiblah, prayer time schedules, seamless Zakat payment tracking, built-in Faraid algorithm to calculate and allocate estates and weather updates.

The current core application provides a modern and comprehensive on-the-go Al-Quran player that comes with high-resolution audio voice translation options in five languages, with more languages soon to be added. It also features Al-Quran reading assistance for beginners.

The app is compatible with active gears allowing users to track their Solah patterns and monitor their calorie burn rate during Solah. The in-app marketplace, NoorCommerce, has been revamped, enabling users to browse, purchase and sell halal products in multi currencies.

“TheNoor was designed for Muslims like you and me who juggles between the demand of modern lives whether at home, work or when we travel. It is a go-to resource for Muslims everywhere to form meaningful relationships with the religion through guided teachings and offerings that are rooted in Islamic principles and ideals. Not only can technology help us be more productive and connected, but it can also help us become better Muslims,” said Noor Neelofa Mohd Noor, TheNoor Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer.

This year, in collaboration with Tabung Haji Travel & Services Sdn Bhd (THTS), TheNoor plans to introduce in-app umrah packages, enabling users to conduct everything umrah related- from registrations and bookings right up to the completion of the Islamic pilgrimage. It also includes a mutawif tracker, detailed travel itinerary, travel insurance, currency exchange services and an umrah course for users to get a refresher on rituals.

“As the first shariah-compliant ECF platform in Malaysia, there is a natural synergy between us and TheNoor in terms of our core values, propositions and fundamental beliefs to support the rapid growth of the Islamic economy together,

“At ETHIS, we are honoured to be able to support TheNoor’s crowdfunding campaign as part of their continued growth journey and ambition to impact Muslims around the world. We see that as an ongoing effort to circulate good not just amongst Muslims but also involving the general society. This crowdfunding campaign serves as an opportunity for all to support one of the fastest growing Malaysian Islamic-based tech startup by way of investing in them,” said Ethis Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Wan Mohd Dazriq Wan Zulkiflee.

TheNoor existing partners include Bank Islam, Fasspay, Fipper, Furada, Google Cloud, King Fahd Glorious Quran Printing, PPZ Kuala Lumpur, Max Money, Split, Tabung Haji Travel, ZeptoExpress and Zurich General Takaful.

Malaysia’s Islamic crowdfunding platform Ethis Group raises $1.7M in pre-Series A round