Malaysia's first-of-its-kind Islamic lifestyle app, TheNoor, (Noor Luminous Sdn Bhd), is looking to raise RM5 million (estimated US$1.1 million) through Ethis, a Malaysian impact investment and Islamic equity crowdfunding platform. Should the deal pull through, this would bring the firm’s post-money valuation to around USD$10.7 million.
Mohd Izzairi Yami, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, commented in a statement that the investment will be channeled to capitalize on a fast-growing market, increase research and development push, enhance advertising and promotion efforts as well as grow the team.
“The crowdfunding will help us refine our application so that we continue to create offerings that will nurture and enrich the lifestyles of Muslims around the globe. The halal industry is swiftly becoming a competitive and fast-moving sector globally and we want to tap this through tech.”
“Tech enables more Muslims to achieve their spiritual commitment by transforming how we engage with Islam. We are continuously working on a variety of new features to create added value for our users and will see the rollout of more interactive content, educational offerings for kids, Shariah Counters Projections, an e-wallet and more.”
Launched last January, the faith-based app provides the Islamic community with features that bring them closer to a holistic lifestyle with real-time location detection to discover close-by mosques and Qiblah, prayer time schedules, seamless Zakat payment tracking, built-in Faraid algorithm to calculate and allocate estates and weather updates.
Once the deal reaches a pre-money valuation of RM42,900,000 (USD9.62 million), investors will be able to take in the equity crowdfunding campaign for TheNoor with a minimum investment amount of RM500 for 20 shares.
“TheNoor was designed for Muslims like you and me who juggles between the demand of modern lives whether at home, work or when we travel,” said Noor Neelofa Mohd Noor, TheNoor Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer.
“It is a go-to resource for Muslims everywhere to form meaningful relationships with the religion through guided teachings and offerings that are rooted in Islamic principles and ideals. Not only can technology help us be more productive and connected, but it can also help us become better Muslims.”
Adding to this, Ethis Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Wan Mohd Dazriq Wan Zulkiflee expressed their honour to be able to support TheNoor’s crowdfunding campaign as part of their continued growth journey and ambition to impact Muslims around the world.
“We see that as an ongoing effort to circulate good not just amongst Muslims but also involving the general society. This crowdfunding campaign serves as an opportunity for all to support one of the fastest growing Malaysian Islamic-based tech startup by way of investing in them.”
This year, in collaboration with Tabung Haji Travel & Services Sdn Bhd (THTS), TheNoor plans to introduce in-app umrah packages, enabling users to conduct everything umrah related- from registrations and bookings right up to the completion of the Islamic pilgrimage. It also includes a mutawif tracker, detailed travel itinerary, travel insurance, currency exchange services and an umrah course for users to get a refresher on rituals.
TheNoor’s existing partners include Bank Islam, Fasspay, Fipper, Furada, Google Cloud, King Fahd Glorious Quran Printing, PPZ Kuala Lumpur, Max Money, Split, Tabung Haji Travel, ZeptoExpress and Zurich General Takaful.