Wahed is an American financial technology and services company based in New York City, New York.
In July 2019, the company launched the first
exchange-traded fund
An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a type of investment fund and exchange-traded product, i.e. they are traded on stock exchanges. ETFs are similar in many ways to mutual funds, except that ETFs are bought and sold from other owners throughout the ...
in the United States that was compliant with
Sharia law
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the Five Pillars of Islam, religious precepts of Islam and is based on the Islamic holy books, sacred scriptures o ...
. Wahed operates in 130 countries and has offices in Washington D.C, New York, London and Dubai. According to Bloomberg, it has a valuation of $300 million.
History
The idea for Wahed Invest came about in 2015, after founder Junaid Wahedna was shocked to find his New York taxi driver was seeking financial advice from an
imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
as opposed to qualified
financial advisor. This conversation inspired Wahedna to launch Wahed Invest.
In 2017, Wahed Invest launched the world's first automated Islamic investment platform.
In November 2017, Wahed raised
seed capital
Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor invests capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' su ...
from investors including former
JPMorgan Chase managing director John Elkhair and director of
McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...
, Laurent Nordin.
In August 2018, Wahed made its first international expansion by launching its operations in the UK. In October 2018, Wahed raised a $7 million round with
Cue Ball Capital and BECO Capital.
In November 2018, the company launched a Halal
Stock
In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...
Screener mobile app to compare 50,000 Sharia-compliant stocks.
In July 2019, the company launched the Wahed FTSE USA Shariah ETF (HLAL), which tracks a benchmark derived from the broad FTSE USA Index.
In July 2020, Wahed raised $25 million in a
Series A funding round led by
Saudi Aramco
Saudi Aramco ( ar, أرامكو السعودية '), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company) or simply Aramco, is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. , it is one of ...
Entrepreneurship Ventures with participation from existing investors BECO and
Cue Ball Capital, as well as Dubai Cultiv8 and Rasameel. In December 2020 Wahed acquired Niyah Ltd, a British company that runs a digital banking app designed for the Muslim community for an undisclosed amount.
In 2021,
Khabib Nurmagomedov joined as an investor and brand ambassador, and, in 2022,
Paul Pogba also joined these roles.
On 10 February 2022, the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Wahed Invest, LLC with making misleading statements and for compliance failures related to its Shari’ah advisory business.
[ ] Wahed Invest consented to the entry of the SEC’s order and agreed, via a cease-and-desist order, to pay a $300,000 penalty as well as retain an independent compliance consultant among other undertakings.
In June 2022, Wahed completed a $50 million Series B funding round, putting the company's valuation at $300 million.
[
]
Company
Wahed is aimed at investors looking for ethical investments aligned with Islamic principles.FCA FCA may refer to:
Arts
* Federation of Canadian Artists
* Foundation for Contemporary Art, in Ghana
* Foundation for Contemporary Arts, in the United States
Business and economics
* False Claims Act, a United States federal law
* Federal Cus ...
(UK), SEBI (India), OJK (Indonesia), AFSA (Kazakhstan), SC (Malaysia), FSC (Mauritius) and FSCA (South Africa).
References
{{reflist
External links
SEC order
Financial services companies established in 2015
Investment promotion agencies
2015 establishments in New York City
Financial advisors
Financial services companies based in New York City