baraka to Launch Trading Platform for Millenials After Raising $1M

UAE-based fintech startup, baraka, has announced that it has raised a pre-seed investment of $1 million. Led by Class 5 Global, the round also included participation from FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund and VentureSouq, alongside a private investment from Careem co-founder, Abdulla Elyas.

The investment has come at an opportune time for co-founders Feras Jalbout, Kunal Taneja and Joel Ayala, as they aim to launch the baraka app in the second quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory approval.

“Young investors in the Middle East are becoming more conscious about the companies and causes they want to support,” said Jalbout, who also serves as the baraka CEO, said of the role of the commission-free platform. “Whether it’s backing organisations that prioritise diversity and inclusion, seeking sustainable investment options, or just helping their favourite brands to grow, millennials want a say in where their money is going. So, we created a platform that would allow them to do that, while addressing their two biggest challenges – limited access to US-listed stocks, and a lack of understanding around how they work.”

The app is said to offer access to some 4,000-plus US-listed stocks, exchange traded funds and fractional shares, and users will have the option of a paid tier with stock analysis and no minimum investment requirements. The foung trio’s ambitions of opening the world of investment and trading to a younger demographic is certainly an ambitious one, though in Egypt’s Thndr, they have a prime example of the changing tide across the MENA region.

Learn more about baraka here.