News and updates from the Barakah Insider editorial team.
Founders
A 14-year tech veteran who worked at Microsoft, Google, and YouTube left a $450,000 salary to open a halal barbecue restaurant in Texas. It made nearly $2.3 million in its first year.
Islamic Fintech
The Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) named three winners of its Applied AI in Islamic Finance Competency Challenge on June 17 in Baku, Azerbaijan, awarding first place to a proposal for AI-driven supply chain management across government, business, and consumer channels. The challenge ran as part of the 5th
AI
Two Saudi Arabia-based AI startups, Intella and Nommas.ai, have been named to the World Economic Forum's 2026 Technology Pioneers list, which selects 100 early-stage companies from around the world for their potential to reshape industry and society. The recognition places both companies in a cohort
Islamic Fintech
Islamic digital bank Fasset has been named one of the World Economic Forum's 100 Technology Pioneers for 2026, placing the UAE-based startup among a globally selected group of early-stage companies recognised for developing technologies with the potential to reshape business and society. Through the two-year
Islamic Fintech
Abu Dhabi-based Mal has received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE to establish a licensed bank, moving the Islamic fintech one step closer to launching what it describes as a global Shariah-compliant financial services platform. The approval was granted following what the central bank
Islamic Fintech
Muslim Pro, the world's most-downloaded Islamic lifestyle app, has launched its first financial product, a Shariah-compliant pilgrimage savings platform built in partnership with Maybank Indonesia. The product, called Amanah Pro, went live on 6 May 2026 in Jakarta and is described as the first Islamic Banking-
Islamic Fintech
Islamic digital bank Fasset has raised $51 million in a Series B round to expand its stablecoin-based banking platform across emerging markets, with backing from Japan's SBI Group, Bahrain-headquartered Investcorp, and Turkish asset manager Arz Portföy. Founded in 2019 and based in Los Angeles, Fasset is
Technology
A new UK charity, Shared Futures Foundation, has launched with a straightforward argument: the reason most people don't participate more ethically in the economy isn't apathy, it's that the systems around them were never designed to make it easy. Founded by Adil Abbuthalha, an
Apps
A father-and-son team behind Australia's largest Sharia-compliant financial group is now taking aim at a different kind of gap in the market: a unified digital platform for the global Muslim community. Hakan Ozyon, who built Melbourne-based Hejaz Financial Services, has launched Wahda alongside his
Islamic Fintech
Wahed, the global Islamic fintech company, has launched the first Shariah-compliant real estate fund in the United States, open to non-accredited investors.
Apps
Mihrab is a free Islamic app that covers salah times, Quran, hadith, dhikr, fasting tracking, and a few other essential features.
Dawah
KIM Vakfı (Center for Cross Cultural Communication), a Türkiye-based non-profit organization, has launched its global fundraising campaign on LaunchGood. The organisation’s aim is countering Islamophobia and promoting intercultural understanding through educational outreach at Türkiye’s historic Islamic heritage sites. With Istanbul, currently the world’s