IslamicFinance.de

In this interview Umar Munshi, the founder and CEO of Ethis Ventures talks about the Islamic crowdfunding sector. Ethis Ventures is a pioneer in the sector centred in Southeast Asia, in Singapore, as well as in Malaysia and Indonesia. Ethis Ventures is behind Ethis Crowd, the first Islamic real estate crowdfunding platform that raises funds for social housing development projects in Indonesia. Ethis is also behind Kapital Boost, which crowdfunds financing for small and medium-sized enterprises. The company’s latest project is a charity-based crowdfunding platform called GlobalSadaqah. It aims to match high-impact charity campaigns to donors who give either zakat or sadaqah.

Bank Islam Malaysia has recently launched its social finance initiative, Sadaqa House. It aims to provide products and services to collect sadaqah, waqf and hibah. The public can contribute to realising social finance projects for sectors such as healthcare, education and entrepreneurship through the bank’s digital crowdfunding partnership with Ethis Ventures and GlobalSadaqa.com. Bank Islam CEO Khairul Kamarudin said the bank was utilising technology in its Shariah solutions to deliver a service that is aligned with the current digital trend. Also, contributors can ensure the funds contributed are being channelled accordingly and track the progress of the chosen project. Ethis Ventures founder Umar Munshi said the platform was not limited to Muslims and Malaysians. Any amount of money can be donated by the public into the Sadaqa House fund account, while Bank Islam will match the raised fund at the rate of 1:1 to a maximum of RM500,000.

Tun Abdullah Badawi, the former Prime Minister of #Malaysia, has launched the Waqf (Islamic Endowment) crowdfunding platform or WaqfWorld. The new platform was announced at the 12th World Islamic Economic Foundation Forum (WIEF) held in Jakarta last week. The platform was developed in partnership with EthisVentures.com. Founding patron, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi saw the potential of Waqf Crowdfunding to develop the whole community of Muslims. WaqfWorld.org does not charge beneficiaries or users any fees. The platform is completely free during the initial phase. Operational costs will be partially borne by voluntary contributions, and other resources provided by Ethis Ventures.