IMAN is positioning itself as the 'Halal Klarna,' targeting the 71% of the global Muslim population that avoids traditional financial products due to religious constraints. The deck outlines a two-pronged product strategy: IMAN Pay for consumer BNPL and IMAN Invest for retail investors to fund those installments for a profit share. With a focus on Uzbekistan as a launchpad, the company leverages a sophisticated risk management system connected to five national databases to maintain an expected NPL rate of 6%. The deck successfully communicates a clear market gap and a localized distribution s…
Key takeaways
- The company targets a massive unbanked population of 700 million Muslims who avoid traditional credit due to faith-based reasons (Slide 2).
- IMAN operates a dual-sided model: IMAN Pay for merchant PoS lending and IMAN Invest for retail investment starting at $250 (Slide 4).
- Risk management is a core pillar, utilizing 20+ data points from five databases including the Tax Police and Cadaster to predict a 6% NPL rate (Slide 5).
- The roadmap outlines a clear path from a $1M Pre-Series A to a ~$10M equity and $20M+ debt Series A round (Slide 6).
- The team is heavily weighted with former TBC Bank and IFG professionals, supported by a dedicated Head of Shariah board (Slide 7).
- Market size projections estimate the Uzbekistan consumer credit market will reach $2.76B by 2022, with IMAN aiming for a 10% share (Slide 8).
- Distribution strategy is highly localized, planning to promote through 100 big mosques reaching 2 million people (Slide 9).
- The deck benchmarks against global BNPL giants like Klarna ($45.6Bn) and Afterpay ($28.1Bn) to illustrate the $50Bn+ potential in Muslim-majority markets (Slide 3).
Executive Summary: The Halal Klarna
IMAN presents a compelling case for a specialized fintech solution in Muslim-majority frontier markets. The deck, titled "Faith Driven Technology," focuses on the intersection of religious compliance and modern consumer credit. By positioning itself as a "Halal Klarna," the company identifies a specific, underserved demographic of 700 million unbanked Muslims. The deck moves logically from the global problem of financial exclusion to a localized solution in Uzbekistan, backed by a sophisticated data-driven risk model and a team with deep banking experience.
Slide 1: Title Slide
The opening slide establishes the brand identity: "IMAN: Faith Driven Technology." It clearly defines the target audience as merchants, shoppers, and investors. The most important element here is the specific geographic and functional anchor: "Building a HALAL KLARNA for MENA & Asia, starting from UZBEKISTAN." This tells an investor exactly what the product is, who it is for, and where the initial execution is happening.
Slide 2: The Problem - Financial Exclusion
Slide 2 uses data from Ogilvy & Mather to quantify the opportunity. It states that 700 million Muslims out of 1.5 billion are unbanked because existing fintechs do not cater to religious needs. Key metrics include: 90% say faith affects their choice, and 71% do not use financial products like credit and deposits. This slide successfully creates a sense of urgency and scale, framing the problem not just as a lack of technology, but as a lack of culturally and religiously aligned products.
Slide 3: The Opportunity and Benchmarking
To help investors understand the potential valuation, Slide 3 compares IMAN's target market to established BNPL giants. It lists Klarna ($45.6Bn), Afterpay ($28.1Bn), Affirm ($17.5Bn), and Zip Pay ($4.0Bn) with their 2021 valuations. It then contrasts these Western markets with a group of Muslim-majority countries (Uzbekistan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Indonesia), valuing the opportunity at $50Bn+. The slide notes that Halal financial assets currently make up only ~1% of worldwide assets, suggesting a massive headroom for growth.
Slide 4: The Product Ecosystem
IMAN describes a two-sided marketplace. IMAN Pay provides online and offline PoS lending for e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores. IMAN Invest allows retail investors to enter the market with as little as $250, funding the installment pool to generate "high-yield high-impact halal profits." The slide includes screenshots of the mobile interface, showing a clean, modern UI in the local language, which helps de-risk the product development stage for investors.
Slide 5: Risk Management and Data Integration
For a lending business, risk is the primary concern. Slide 5 addresses this by detailing their "ML-BASED SCORING SYSTEM." They claim to be connected to 5 databases (Credit Bureau, Payment History, Road Police, Tax Police, and Cadaster) covering 20 million bank cards. By using 20+ data points, they project an expected NPL (Non-Performing Loan) rate of 6%. The slide also mentions that their AI algorithms were developed by a former data scientist at Avant, adding technical credibility.
Slide 6: The Roadmap to Series A
The roadmap provides a clear timeline from January 2022 to January 2023. Key milestones include a $1M Pre-Series A in June 2022 to reach 300+ merchants and 20,000+ active users with a $3M installment portfolio. The ultimate goal stated is a ~$10M equity + $20M+ debt Series A to expand into a new Asian market. This slide is crucial as it defines the "Ask" and the expected outcomes of that funding.
Slide 7: Team and Advisors
The team slide is dense with high-tier logos. Founders Rustam Rahmatov and Mark Zubov bring experience from IFG and EY. The core team is heavily recruited from TBC Bank, a major regional player. The advisor section is particularly strong, featuring individuals from Amazon, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, and HSBC Amanah. The inclusion of a "Head of Shariah board" is a strategic necessity for this specific business model, ensuring the "Halal" claim is verified by experts.
Slide 8: Market Size and Growth Projections
Slide 8 focuses on the Uzbekistan market. It projects the consumer loan market to grow from $959M in 2019 to $2.76B in 2022 (a 188% increase). IMAN aims to capture 10% of this market ($277M). It also identifies future expansion into auto loans ($974M market) and mortgages ($1.96B market). This shows that the company isn't just a BNPL player but intends to become a full-spectrum Islamic financial institution.
Slide 9: Marketing and Distribution Strategy
The final slide in the set outlines a localized go-to-market strategy. Beyond standard digital marketing (Instagram, Telegram), IMAN plans to use "Promotion through regional mosques," targeting 100 big mosques and 2 million prayers. They also cite a 92% trust rate in word-of-mouth recommendations. This demonstrates a deep understanding of how to acquire customers in their specific cultural context, which is often a blind spot for Western-style fintechs.
What Works in This Deck
Clear Market Gap: The deck does an excellent job of explaining why existing fintech giants cannot easily enter this market due to the religious requirement for Sharia-compliant structures. · Dual-Sided Model: By including IMAN Invest, the company solves its own liquidity problem. Instead of relying solely on institutional debt, they tap into the retail investment market, which is also underserved for Halal options. · Data-Driven Risk: The specific mention of connecting to the Tax Police and Cadaster databases shows a sophisticated, localized approach to credit scoring in a market where traditional credit scores might be thin. · Strong Team-Market Fit: The combination of banking veterans and Sharia experts is exactly what is needed to execute this specific business model.
What Is Missing
Unit Economics: While the deck mentions a $3M installment portfolio goal, it does not provide the take rate from merchants or the profit-share split with investors. Investors need to see the margin structure. · Historical Performance: The deck is forward-looking. It mentions a "Hard Launch" in early 2022, but lacks data on any pilot programs or early traction metrics that might have existed prior to the deck's creation. · Competitive Landscape: While it benchmarks against Klarna, it does not list local or regional competitors who might also be moving into the Islamic fintech space. · Regulatory Status: Operating a bank-like entity (lending and taking investment) in frontier markets requires specific licenses. The deck does not explicitly state which licenses IMAN holds or needs.
Founder's Guide: What to Copy
The "X for Y" Hook: Using "Halal Klarna" is a perfect high-concept pitch. It immediately tells the investor the business model (BNPL) and the unique differentiator (Halal/Sharia-compliant). · Visualizing the Data Moat: Slide 5's wheel of data sources is a great way to show a proprietary advantage. Don't just say you have "AI"; show the specific, hard-to-get data sources that feed it. · Localized Distribution: The mention of marketing through mosques is a brilliant example of showing "Founder-Market Fit." It shows the team understands the community they are serving better than a generic competitor would. · Clear Funding Tiers: The roadmap (Slide 6) clearly separates equity needs from debt needs. For fintechs, this distinction is vital, as the capital used to run the company is different from the capital used to fund the loans.
Frequently asked questions
- What is IMAN's core value proposition?
- IMAN provides a 'Halal' alternative to traditional Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services. According to slide 2, 71% of Muslims do not use traditional financial products because of their faith. IMAN solves this by offering Sharia-compliant lending for consumers and a profit-sharing investment vehicle for retail investors, bridging the gap between religious requirements and modern fintech convenience.
- How does IMAN manage lending risk in frontier markets?
- As detailed on slide 5, IMAN uses a proprietary ML-based scoring system. This system connects to five specific databases: Credit Bureau Reports, Payment History, Road Police, Tax Police, and Cadaster. By analyzing 20+ data points across 20 million bank cards, they aim to maintain an expected Non-Performing Loan (NPL) rate of just 6%.
- What are the two primary products mentioned in the deck?
- Slide 4 identifies IMAN Pay and IMAN Invest. IMAN Pay offers online and offline PoS lending for shoppers at merchant locations. IMAN Invest allows individuals to invest as little as $250 into a pool of installments managed by IMAN, generating 'halal profits' from the repayment of those consumer purchases.
- What is the company's expansion strategy?
- The roadmap on slide 6 shows a phased approach starting in Uzbekistan. After achieving product-market fit with 300+ merchants and 20,000+ users, the company plans to raise a Series A to expand into a second country in Asia by December 2022, eventually targeting regional consolidation across the broader MENA and Asia regions.
- Who is behind the company?
- The team (Slide 7) is led by founders Rustam Rahmatov and Mark Zubov, both with backgrounds at IFG. The core team includes several former TBC Bank executives. Notably, they have a formal 'Head of Shariah board,' Dr. Ziyaad Mahomed, to ensure all products remain compliant with Islamic finance principles, which is critical for their target demographic.
