Heaptalk, Jakarta — IMAN, an Uzbekistan-based fintech platform, announced has closed USD 1 million out of seed funding round. This startup will allocate the budget to expand its digital payment system by penetrating other frontier markets.
This funding round was injected by several Venture Capitals (VC) and institutional investment funds, including Battery Road Digital Holdings, Tesla Capital, Uzcard Ventures, MyAsiaVC, Le Mercier’s Capital, Vector Crypto Capital, Block0, and IT-Park Investments. Several angel investors from the United States, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Singapore also support the company’s plans to boost halal Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and halal investments as daily financial transaction access globally.
Materializing the platform’s vision, the Uzbekistan-based company is supported by its mobile application, IMAN Invest, and IMAN Pay, as a halal BNPL solution. These high-technology features are expected to lead the platform to be Asia’s leading financial technology company.
Based on the fintech report, IMAN Invest app has successfully tackled USD 1,2 million from more than 1,000 investors in retail sectors from sixty countries. Additionally, Halal BNPL scheme is connected to more than 100 merchants offering goods and services, starting from customer electronics, household appliances, healthcare, education, and sports needs.
IMAN’s Founder and CEO, Rustam Rahmatov, stated, “First and foremost, this investment will help us scale our technology to integrate seamlessly with retail partners across Uzbekistan both online and offline to provide finance in seconds. Secondly, we will roll out partnerships with merchants across all sectors more aggressively, including beauty and fashion, Fast Moving Consumer Good (FMCG), and services,”
IMAN provides halal BNPL and builds halal funding sources. This financial technology platform allows investors to invest and facilitates customers in purchasing IMAN’s goods or services through merchants and a cost-plus financing structure.
This Uzbekistan-based startup, moreover, implements separate Islamic purchase or sales agreements with the merchants without benefiting from late fees or other conditional charges upon missing payments. Performing this scheme, IMAN’s team expects to encourage responsible purchasing to align with customers’ beliefs.
The Founder of Tesla Capital, Olzhas Zhiyenkulov, also revealed a statement about this platform, “IMAN represents the best of Frontier Technopreneurship in creating an inclusive financial ecosystem that empowers MSMEs and consumers to control cashflow, access funding, and transact in a socially acceptable and responsible way. This platform can be a professional in traditional finance. I know the importance of accessing the same financial innovation while harmonizing with people’s beliefs and morals. That is the right financial inclusion spirit.”
Likewise, the Founder and CFO of IMAN, Mark Zuboy, also stated that an increase in halal investment demand has made this platform unlock new digital opportunities between capital allocators of developed markets and Muslim-majority frontier markets where capital is more needed. By implementing this scheme, investors can activate financial services in the most underserved markets.
“This investment round empowers us to explore opportunities in other Muslim-majority markets in early 2023. We are excited to collaborate with our investors who have made investments in a similar business in different geographies and bring with them a wealth of knowledge and expertise,” concluded Rahmatov. (SFM)
