Oil and gas supplier Saudi Aramco has co-led a $25m funding round for Wahed, the US-based provider of a Sharia-compliant robo-advisory platform, through its Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures unit, MenaBytes reported yesterday.
Venture capital firm Beco Capital co-led the round, which also featured Cue Ball Capital, the Dubai state-backed Dubai Cultiv8 and members of undisclosed Middle Eastern family offices.
Wahed has built a robo-advisory service that uses artificial intelligence to help users in the US, UK and Malaysia make ethical investments that adhere to Islamic Sharia law.
The capital will be used to open an office in Saudi Arabia that will serve as the base for a more widespread expansion into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Wassim Basrawi, managing director of Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures (also known as Wa’ed Ventures), said, “We believe in Wahed’s mission to provide ethical investing. The company has taken the lead in delivering investment services to one of the world’s fastest-growing sectors – Islamic Finance.
“Wahed is also, in the true spirit of fintech, helping to broaden the investment landscape. This latest funding round will enable Wahed to make Saudi their regional MENA hub and contribute towards a fast-growing fintech ecosystem.”
Beco Capital and Cue Ball Capital joined angel investors Khalid Al Jassim, John Elkhair and Nasr-Eddine Benaissa for Wahed’s $7m seed round in 2017 before adding $7.7m in October 2018 at a valuation of almost $100m. It raised an undisclosed sum from Dubai Cultiv8 in September 2019.
