9 Finance Monthly. The Monthly Round-Up WORLD’S FIRST ISLAMIC FINTECH FOCUSED ON GIVING ACCESS TO GLOBAL PRIVATE FUNDS, COMPLETES ITS PRE-SEED FUNDING ROUND Digital investment platform Mnaara has completed a US$500,000 pre-seed round funded by investors from the UK, US, Middle East and Singapore. The round will enable Mnaara to grow its team and continue developing its Shariah-compliant investment solutions catering to the globally underserved mass-affluent market. Mnaara is the world’s first investment platform offering equitable access to Shariah-compliant global private markets funds through a complete digital experience. The funds follow strict Shariah screening guidelines which limit and control what are considered non-ethical activities in Islamic finance, such as gambling, tobacco, alcohol, and arms, in addition to generating income from interest. Financial guidelines are also followed with respect to using excessive leverage and financial derivatives. Saad Adada, founder and CEO of Mnaara, said: “This is a very exciting time for our business. We are creating a gateway that allows our clients to invest in top performing funds without compromising their values. Our platform democratises access to private markets that were previously only available to the select few, via a seamless digital journey accessible from anywhere in the world. “Our investment approach ensures that all investments are made in accordance with Islamic finance principles and guidelines. We’re on a mission to enable a community of Shariah-conscious investors by connecting them with the best investment opportunities globally. “Currently, those who want to diversify their investments, while maintaining a Shariah-compliant portfolio, have extremely limited options. We feel it is important that private markets are open to all, which is why we have created Mnaara.” PAYHAWK PARTNERS WITH YAPILY TO PROVIDE MORE CONVENIENT BANK ACCOUNT TOP-UPS ACROSS EUROPE AND UK Payhawk, the fast-growing spend management platform, which combines company cards, reimbursable expenses, and accounts payable in one solution, today announces it has partnered with open banking API, Yapily, to create a seamless and instant payment experience for finance teams when upgrading their Payhawk wallets. Through the benefits of open banking, Payhawk eliminates lengthy, manual payment processes that cause user friction and leads to unnecessary cash flow uncertainty for businesses. The integration with Yapily - rolled out in key markets for Payhawk including the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, and the Benelux - allows Payhawk to offer its customers the ability to link one or more bank accounts from over 2,000 banks and institutions from dozens of countries and lets users easily top up their debit accounts and repay credit accounts from a linked bank account.
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