Serial entrepreneur’s AI fintech raises $230m

• Abdallah Abu-Sheikh’s latest project
• His track record was vital, say analysts
• Mal is an AI-driven Islamic banking app

A fintech set up by serial entrepreneur Abdallah Abu-Sheikh has raised nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in what it describes as the largest seed funding round in the Middle East.

Mal, Abu-Sheikh’s artificial intelligence and Islamic finance banking venture, announced this week that it had raised $230 million in seed funding.

“The size of funding is usually related to the size of the opportunity,” the Abu Dhabi-based entrepreneur told CNBC, estimating that the Islamic finance sector is worth around $7 trillion “with no single global banking leader”.

BlueFive Capital led the fundraising round, with participation from other strategic investors and family offices.

As well as targeting the Middle East, Abu-Sheikh said he planned to use the funding to pursue markets in Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. 

Mal is already in conversation with regulators, he said. “We are trying to open up those markets as quickly as possible.”

CNBC/Reuters

Abdallah Abu-Sheikh discussed Mal’s launch with CNBC

Abu-Sheikh’s profile and history of successful exits is likely to have played a role in the amount of capital raised, analysts said.

Two of his ventures have been bought out by UAE-based investment and development group Astra Tech: on-demand home services platform Rizek in 2022 and then online calling application Botim the following year.

“Abdallah Abu-Sheikh has already demonstrated an ability to build and scale several technology businesses in the region, and that prior execution significantly compresses investor risk,” Ryaan Sharif, partner for the GCC at F6 Labs, told AGBI.

“In markets like the Middle East, where scaled fintech outcomes are still relatively rare, proven founders tend to attract disproportionate conviction and capital.”

Investors want to lock in exposure to Abu-Sheikh early, Sharif said, because they see in him the ability to “build a category-defining platform at scale”.

Sam Marchant, the Dubai-based founder of investment firm Forward Pursuit, said the record raise was the result of three things: “The track record and quality of Abdullah Abu Sheikh as a CEO and founder, his ability to recruit and retain the best fintech talent in the region, and the size of the opportunity.”

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Fintech is consistently the best-funded sector among technology startups in the Middle East. They accounted for more than half of all venture funding in the region in 2025, raising over $4 billion in the 11 months to November.

The time may be right for a tech-driven Islamic finance player to enter the market, according to Lucy Chow, limited partner at London-based investment business Pact VC.

Standard Chartered forecasts that the value of Islamic finance assets held worldwide will pass $7.5 trillion by 2028.

“Mal is aiming to be the first mover in AI-driven Islamic banking. There is no other player out there yet,” Chow said. “There is a huge growth potential if Mal can fast-track regulatory approval and scale quickly.”