The 50 Most Innovative Global Muslim Startups 2016 Ummah Wide

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The 50 Most Innovative Global Muslim

Startups 2016
In an age of rising Islamophobia can global Muslim startups and the sheer size
of the global Muslim market impact ignorance and hatred? As extremism
continues to lead headlines about Muslims, how can the story about global
Muslim entrepreneurs shine beyond the small minority of extremists who make
headlines? This is the biggest story about Muslims around the world not being
told, a story with an emerging global ecosystem with tens of thousands of
Muslim entrepreneurs all over the world. A story that has resonated so deeply
with Muslims globally that last year when we published our rst article in this
series it was translated into six languages and reached all over the earth.
The global Muslim market is one of the largest emerging economies in the
world with current spending equaling $1.8 trillion dollars and is expected to
grow by 5.8% on average over the next 5 years, according to Dinar Standard.

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Our article in 2015 also opened up a lot of media coverage of global Muslim
startups with Quartz itself even adopting a section of its publication called
Ummah, arabic for community. A recent Mashable article about United States
based Muslim startups explores how ignorance and fear are big obstacles for
Muslim startup founders.
While this may be true for US based venture capitalists in Silicon Valley and
beyond who are missing opportunities in investing in Muslim companies, as we
show below Muslim startups are nding major funding around the world led by
venture capital funds in Singapore, the Gulf and Malaysia. This is a quickly
maturing startup space with innovative young entrepreneurs as well as
seasoned serial entrepreneurs building companies that are growing across
borders and developing this global Muslim market. For Silicon Valley the time
is now to play catch up with global rms as the 500 Startups partner Khailee
Ng stated recently about Muslim startups in South Asia, I need to be very
interested in investing in Muslim tech startups to be a good investor in this
regionIf anything, Im just playing catchup.
While there is growing investor interest, this is a complex, global emerging
market representative of both local economies and diasporic populations who
live across borders and whose reach can allow products to grow beyond
traditional markets. To best articulate the scale of the emerging global Muslim
startup ecology we have broken it up into 4 areas:
1. Muslim leadership in tech ecosystems globally
Muslims entrepreneurs play vital roles in regional startup ecologies around the
world from Silicon Valley to Istanbul, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangalore,
Singapore, Jakarta, London, Berlin, New York City, Casablanca and in dozens
of other cities and startup communities. In Silicon Valley alone there are tens of
thousands of Muslims embedded in every layer of the tech and startup
community including entrepreneurs who have had billion dollar plus exits like
Omar Tawakol, as well as major players in VC rms such as Mamoon Hamid
one of the founders of the VC rm Social + Capital, and Omar Hamoui of
Seqouia Capital.
2. Companies and Startups focused on Muslim majority populations who
use Muslim-centric branding

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Companies around the world know the importance of creating products for
and catering to Muslim markets. From H&Ms hijab line, to the Marks &
Spencer burkini and Dolce & Gabanas abaya creating modest fashion options,
to nearly every brand in the world developing advertising campaigns for
Ramadan, this is simply put a market that can no longer be ignored. However
it is also a market where local companies in Muslim majority countries go
above and beyond in marketing to Muslims, like Careem for example who
oered free rides to the Mosque in their cars during Ramadan in 2015.
3. Muslim startups focused specically on Muslim consumers
This is the area we are focused on in this article on Muslim centric products
that can be created by any entrepreneur regardless of faith who sees the global
market opportunity. While many of the companies below show the real
potential for what companies in this space can grow, it can also be one of the
hardest type of startup to get funded. In showcasing these Muslim focused
startups we believe that investors can see the true market opportunity and
talent growing throughout the world.
4. Social enterprise products from Muslim majority countries that use
aspects of Muslim branding focused on western markets

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There are also an emerging set of companies who are making impact on
Muslim majority markets where products are produced and then branded and
sold in Western markets with positive representations of Muslim cultures and
values. Ranging from Tiossan and Port of Mokha, who are both featured on
this list to the wide range of social impact companies focused on global
refugees like Rumie and Techfugees.

We see this years list as representing a real

milestone for global Muslim startups,
as we showcase here a set of companies with real global growth, making
serious money with committed founders and investors driving this market.
There is still great need for committed seed funding in this space and we hope
by 2017 we will be featuring a number of those seed and venture funds that are

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currently being built.

This years list is also more diverse than last years in terms of the types of
companies featured on the list and where these companies come from. The
United States leads the list again this year with 17 companies featured, 13
from Europe (including 2 from Turkey), 10 from South Asia, 9 from the Gulf
region and 2 from Africa. We know we can do even better than this, especially
in Africa, a majority Muslim continent. We were sent hundreds of companies to
review over the last year and we did our best to focus on a range of companies
from those who are ready for later stage investment rounds to companies who
need the right seed funding and mentorship to grow to the next level.
If you think we have missed something or to be considered for our 2017 list
please tweet us at @dustincraun or @ummahwide.

Salaam Bank
FinTech San Francisco, Kuala Lumpur, London, Istanbul / Investments
Raising Seed Round for more information see Salaam Banks Angel List

Industries around the world have been disrupted by innovative startups, but

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one industry that has yet to feel a deep impa ct in innovation and technology is
Islamic banking and nance. At a time when Muslim youth are looking for
global, ethical, and mobile banking solutions, instead most Islamic nance
products are focused on a tired brand propositions that argue that Islamic
nance is no dierent than conventional banking. This while oering
technologically weak products, its then no surprise that most Muslims are not
using Islamic banks. Meanwhile in the United States (Simple) and Europe
(Number 26 & GetMondo) direct banking oerings (all online and ATM based
banks) are taking o with beautiful mobile banking experiences that allow
people to bank beyond borders without international transaction fees.
This is where Salaam Bank comes in. Building a mobile rst direct bank, with
the goal of growing into a tech heavy nancial institution, Salaam Bank is
building an Islamic nance platform that will give people from the United
States to Jakarta, Dubai and London access to Islamic nance options that are
technologically innovative while creating a bank beyond borders. Sign up
today to gain early access to this platform when it launches:

Modanisa
Fashion & E-Commerce Istanbul, Turkey / InvestmentsR aised $8.5 Million
in 3 rounds from 2 investors

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