Sharia-compliant social commerce startup Evermos bags a little over $8.2m

Muslim-focused social commerce platform Evermos has closed its over US$8.2 million series A round led by Singapore-based VC firm Jungle Ventures.

Shunwei Capital, as well as existing investor Alpha JWC, also participated in the oversubscribed round, according to a statement.

Photo credit: Evermos

Founded in November 2018, Indonesia-based Evermos provides a platform that connects consumers to resellers and brands offering halal and sharia-compliant goods. It claims to have grown its network to more than 20,000 paid resellers across every province in Indonesia since its launch.

With the new funds, it plans to expand its presence in the digital Islamic economy, establish more collaborations with brands and organizations, and further grow its online reseller network.

According to data from Thomson Reuters, the market for halal and sharia-compliant products has surpassed US$2 trillion in 2016 and is expected to almost double to US$3.8 trillion by 2022. Evermos looks to capitalize on that growth, complemented by the supportive regulations and plans from the Indonesian government, said Evermos co-founder and CEO Iqbal Muslimin.

“We believe Evermos is not limited to a business platform, but it is also an economic driver for the Muslim community,” said company co-founder and head of partnership Ilham Taufiq. “There’s a lot of untapped potential on this that we will address in the future, including social goods, ZISWAF, halal travel, and sharia fintech.”

One startup in the sharia fintech space is peer-to-peer lending platform Alami, which recently raised pre-seed funding in a round led by Singapore’s Tryb. Unlike conventional lending, sharia-compliant financing doesn’t generate income from interest as its prohibited by Islamic law. It instead relies on profit and risk sharing to get returns.

Local ecommerce unicorn Tokopedia also recently launched a sharia-compliant travel service called Tokopedia Umroh. It is part of the Tokopedia Salam ecosystem, a sharia-compliant section within the company’s platform that lists over 21 million Muslim-friendly products.