Motivate and Innate: Partners in Fueling Zoya Finance

Zoya Finance, an innovative US-based fintech company, seeks to be “your halal investing co-pilot.” Through Zoya, investors can screen and analyze securities to ensure that they comply with investors’ ethical guidelines. Zoya is also launching brokerage services, and well as analytical tools to help investors calculate their charitable giving (Zakat) requirements.

Two of Zoya’s early investors – Motivate Venture Capital and Innate Capital Partners – have supported the business not only with funding but also with deep expertise in venture building and in Islamic finance.

The Motivate partners have been building and investing in early-stage startups since 2003. Motivate aims to “back incredible founders with strong domain knowledge who are tackling real, durable problems.” Motivate’s portfolio spans its two funds, mostly centering on founders building in the future of finance and B2B software realms.

Zoya’s focus on the halal investment market caught Motivate’s early attention. Motivate “looks for opportunities with very high growth potential in large and growing markets.” Meeting Zoya’s founders and researching the noticeably-underserved market convinced Motivate that the halal investment space was attractive for both a community-driven retail investment platform and a market data product.

Innate Capital Partners invests in “companies that help people align their finances with their values.” Innate’s portfolio includes several fintech companies offering halal financial solutions. These include companies in wealth management, home financing, education finance, and crowdfunding.

In addition to providing capital, Innate supports its portfolio companies with its “industry expertise, strategic input, and network of financial services operators and investors.” Having built a diverse portfolio of values-aligned fintechs, Innate has unique perspective on how financial services companies can scale and succeed.

Saad Malik, founder and CEO of Zoya, notes “having both Motivate and Innate as investors is immensely helpful to us. Motivate provides deep expertise in venture building across sectors, while Innate deeply understands our industry and target market. We’re thrilled to be partnering with them both on our mission to provide more access, transparency, and education around Islamic financial services, and to enable every Muslim with the means to build generational wealth without compromising their values.”

Lauren DeLuca, Managing Partner of Motivate, adds “we are excited to support Saad, Bilal and the entire Zoya team. They are building an incredibly important product for the Islamic investing community, one that fosters collaboration, education, and connectivity with other faith-driven investors. Innate is the ideal coinvestor, one whose expertise gives us additional comfort that Zoya has supporters who are experts in halal finance.”

Aamir A. Rehman, Chair of Innate, says “Motivate’s investment in Zoya sends a powerful signal on the quality of the company, the scale of the opportunity, and Motivate’s keen ability to spot potential. It is a joy for us to collaborate with Motivate and watch Motivate apply its time-tested expertise in helping companies succeed.”