Indonesian sharia-compliant fintech startup and peer-to-peer (P2P) platform Alami secured an undisclosed amount of funding in a pre-seed round led by Singapore-based VC firm Tryb.
Alami, which recently obtained a P2P registration from Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK), operates a platform for Islamic financing, according to a statement. The company works with a number of partners, including sharia banks, to facilitate small- and medium-sized enterprise invoice financing.
Sharia-compliant finance, unlike conventional lending, does not generate income from interest as it is prohibited by Islamic law. Sharia-compliant institutions replace this with a profit-and-risk sharing system to get returns.
“The sharia fintech market is a huge and untapped market in Indonesia with significant growth prospects,” says Tryb principal Herston Powers. Both companies look to propel the sharia finance sector in Indonesia, which currently has the largest Muslim population in the world with about 90% of its 260 million people being Muslims.
Source Tech in Asia