MUSCAT: Ethical and Islamic investment, and social finance platform operator Ethis Group has announced the relaunch of the Ethis Super Angel (ESA), rebranding it as the ESA Syndicate this year.
Initially started as a network within the Ethis community in 2020, ESA is a private group of angel investors from across the globe that invests in Shariah-compliant startups with the potential for huge financial returns. So far, it has activated close to 50 angel investors to invest $3 million in nine startups.
This year, under a new structure, the ESA Syndicate will be led by four well-known expert ESA Syndicate leads, who are also board members of the Ethis Group. These include Ethis Investment Management Director Amran Mohd, Dinar Founder and CEO Khaled Fouad, BETA Foundation CEO and Founder Lilyana Abdul Latif, and Ethis Founder and Group Managing Director Umar Munshi.
The programme’s reintroduction ties in with Ethis’ recent foray into Venture Capital through its partnership with Gobi Partners, a top-tier early-stage VC in Asia with more than 300 companies in their portfolio and $1.5billion in AUM. Over time, ESA will explore and build synergies with the Gobi and other VCs that Ethis collaborates with.
“We understand that startup investing is exciting but not easy. As a Syndicate, ESA will address two challenges faced by many angel investors—the lack of time and the lack of experience investing in such an asset class,” said Umar.
The ESA Syndicate is by invitation only for angel investors who are looking for promising startups focused on the Muslim world and halal sectors, with a special interest in fintech, finance, and investment products, agrotech, halal food distribution, and the economy as well as sustainable and impactful social enterprises. ESA pays special focus on Camel Startups as a sub-category of startups that it will invest in. ESA members also get access to exclusive startup deals, discounted valuations, and shared bonuses.
“We must step up and start investing more in Muslim founders and Shariah-compliant startups. Lack of access to funding for startups is a huge gap in the Islamic finance universe.”
“The silver lining is that there’s a surge in exciting startups and solutions that are both commercially viable and also #CirculateGood,” Umar said.
Since 2014, Ethis has been providing investment access to SMEs and startups by tapping into its deep network of the halal and circular economy, fintech and capital markets, and the startup ecosystem. Last year alone, Ethis facilitated more than one hundred angel investments to invest in startups such as Accelerate Global, Baloy, and Octowill to name a few.
