A group of several prominent entrants in the crowdfunding sector will announce the formation of a new Islamic Crowdfunding Alliance or ICF Alliance on April 1st. Umar Munshi, founder of eThis Crowd (Singapore), M. Raafi Hossain founder of Narwi (Qatar), Erly Witoyo, founder of Kapital Boost (Singapore), Matthew Martin founder of Blossom Finance (Indonesia) and Rachid Ouaich partner of EasiUp (France) will participate in the launch event and press conference being held in Malaysia. The founding platforms number nine in total.
Islamic finance in general must adhere to strict rules of Sharia law. Sharia prohibits interest or fees for loans of money thus financial firms that seek to offer services in Islamic countries must structure financing to work around Islamic rules to be certified compliant. The fact that crowdfunding adheres to the ethical requirements of finance and cuts out the middle man makes the process more Sharia compliant than traditional Islamic banking.
The creation of the ICF Alliance is being spearheaded by Ethis Crowd which has created a private network of 2400 investors to engage in real estate finance. Ethis initially has targeted projects that emphasize affordable housing, eco-friendly developments and Waqf or endowments for real estate projects.
The event will discuss upcoming plans of the ICF Alliance to address the needs of the growing industry of crowdfunding platforms that cater to Muslim needs.
