UAE-based fintech Wafr has secured an undisclosed pre-seed round from angel investors including Coen Jonker, co-founder of Tyme Group, and Neal Cross, former chief innovation officer at DBS Bank.
Founded in 2026 by Mahmoud Bouchelif and Anthony Murphy, Wafr is building a Shariah-compliant financial platform for individuals, businesses and financial institutions. Its first product, WafrChain, is a private, permissioned blockchain for sukuk issuance, distribution, settlement and profit payments.
The platform records sukuk terms and Shariah approvals on-chain, and supports settlement in fiat currencies and stablecoins. Wafr said institutions can connect WafrChain to existing systems through a single API, while smart contracts help route profit payments.
The company is targeting operational challenges in sukuk markets, where multiple parties often maintain separate records and reconcile transactions manually. According to Wafr, the process can increase costs, create errors and extend issuance timelines.
Wafr plans to expand its institutional offering into fund tokenisation, tokenised deposits, trade finance and B2B settlement. Its future consumer roadmap includes international accounts, cross-border remittances and payment cards, subject to regulatory approvals.
The company cited industry data showing global Islamic finance assets reached $6.5 trillion in 2025, while outstanding sukuk stood at $1.14 trillion.
Source: Wamda
