Three years after the Iran Fara Bourse (IFB) initiated measures to facilitate crowdfunding through its platform, it has now welcomed its first blockchain-powered crowdfunding start-up. Several other crowdfunding platforms are also expected to be licensed.
The new start-up is Kuknos which allows finance seekers to raise up to IRR100 billion (US$2.37 million) in a Shariah compliant manner. The licensing of Kuknos illustrates IFB’s fintech strategy which focuses strongly on crowdfunding and blockchain.
An ardent proponent of blockchain technology, IFB is preparing to launch blockchain Sukuk and has nurtured a crowdfunding community over the last few years.
“This is very good news for crypto start-ups in Iran, and also for us, as we can start initiatives like blockchain Sukuk,” Mahsa Tavakoli, the strategy director at IFB, told IFN, the sister publication of IFN Fintech.
Its issuance and the subsequent launch of blockchain Sukuk will complement the newly launched Crowdfunding Market, for which IFB is the appointed regulator, and which has already received over 72 applications from start-ups, seven of which have a focus on blockchain technology.
IFB began building the foundation for crowdfunding in 2018. It signed a multilateral MoU with several ministries to facilitate crowdfunding activities.
The bourse, one of four local exchanges, has so far licensed four other crowdfunding platforms: KarenCrowd, Dongi, HamAfarin and ParsFunding. It confirmed another six are completing the application process for a principal consent.
Dongi raises funds for SMEs within a span of up to three months, and KarenCrowd connects active start-ups and entrepreneurs to its 1,200 member investors, having raised over IRR800 billion (US$18.96 million) since it started.
IFB had also launched its Sukuk Index, or Sindex, along with the Crowdfunding Market, which tracks government Sukuk and securities, Islamic treasury bills, long- and short-term securities and composites.
“Sindex can be the measure for fixed-income portfolio managers’ performance; portfolio managers are now capable of appraising their performance, track Sindex or even tilt it,” Amir Hamooni, the managing director of IFB, said.
“Our capital market previously suffered from the lack of a benchmark in this area. Investors can now have a transparent look at risk-free return investments. Utilizing a single best-verified index in the debt market not only facilitates retail investors’ analyses, it also assists academic and practical research. It definitely leads to more precise decisions in investing and even valuations.”
These developments are part of the IFB’s wider strategy to optimize efficiency and transparency as well as diversify financing sources for the Iranian market, which practices a fully Islamic model. Outlawing conventional structures, Iran is holds the largest concentration of Islamic financial assets globally.
Source IFN Fintech