UAE fintech Wafr launches WafrChain blockchain platform for sukuk after pre-seed round

Dubai startup Wafr has introduced the WafrChain blockchain platform after raising a pre-seed funding round from angel investors Coen Jonker and Neal Cross. Chief Executive Officer Mahmoud Bouchelif and Chief Product Officer Anthony Murphy founded the company in March 2026 to build a global Islamic financial platform. Their first product is now live with on-chain sukuk tokenisation.

Digitising the sukuk lifecycle

Global Islamic finance assets expanded 9% year on year to $6.5 trillion in 2025, according to the 2026 ICD-LSEG Islamic Finance Development Report, as annual sukuk issuance climbed 14.5% to $291.4 billion. Even with that growth, bringing a single instrument to market can take many months or over a year. A typical issuance involves eight separate parties: the issuer, the trustee, arrangers, the Shariah board, custodians, the paying agent, distributors and investors. Each institution keeps its own record, meaning staff must re-key and reconcile every transfer, profit payment and corporate action across ledgers, increasing operating costs, delays and error risks.

WafrChain connects those institutions through a private, permissioned blockchain with a tokenisation engine and marketplace sitting on top of the shared network. Before distribution, the system records instrument terms such as unit price, profit schedule and maturity on-chain alongside approval from the issuer's Shariah board. Wafr's own Shariah board also works with each issuer to confirm that the structure is compliant. Distributors can then subscribe based on customer demand, while smart contracts route profit payments automatically.

Institutions connect WafrChain to their existing core banking and treasury systems through a single application programming interface (API). Settlement takes place in fiat currencies through local real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems and SWIFT, or in stablecoins. Each participant sees only its own activity to keep positions private, and the network continues operating with only a third of its nodes active. Bringing multiple issuers and distributors from different markets into one environment does more than speed up issuance, Bouchelif said. "You begin to remove some of the geographic and operational barriers to distribution, which can ultimately broaden access, and create more competitive terms for individuals and businesses."

Backing from banking veterans

Wafr's angel backers bring executive experience from banking. Jonker co-founded Singapore-based digital banking group Tyme Group and previously served as a group executive at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Cross co-founded Perth-based financial advisory firm PictureWealth and was Chief Innovation Officer at Singapore lender DBS Bank. Bouchelif is a former Islamic banker who built LeanTech SG into a profitable business with seven-figure revenue without external funding and advised Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) banking leaders on digital transformation for about a decade. Murphy previously launched digital banking products at AMP, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Macquarie Bank.

The founders raised the pre-seed round during a period of regional uncertainty and geopolitical tensions that made global venture capitalists cautious, Bouchelif told Inc. Arabia. Wafr's chief executive said investor confidence came from the team's conviction and focus on solving a long-standing operational problem under the company's stated purpose, "Abundance for everyone". "We are building Wafr for everyone who believes finance should be fair, transparent and ethical, whatever their faith," Bouchelif said. "Islamic finance was built on trust, transparency and shared risk, which is exactly what blockchain does best," Cross said. Jonker said technology now makes it possible to build a global digital finance business for the Muslim world beyond traditional banking models.

What happens next

Beyond sukuk, Wafr will expand its institutional roadmap into fund tokenisation, tokenised deposits, trade finance and business-to-business (B2B) settlement. The company also plans to launch consumer services for unbanked and underserved communities, including international accounts, cross-border remittances and payment cards. Stablecoins and agentic artificial intelligence (AI) sit at the centre of that development strategy. Bouchelif said stablecoins such as USDT and USDC move value internationally in real time at low cost, enabling stablecoin-backed cards alongside new savings, lending and payment products.

Wafr's chief product officer said large language models have changed consumer behaviour as users express the outcome they want instead of navigating menus and individual steps. AI will connect everyday tasks directly with financial actions, Murphy said, such as asking a system to book a ticket to Singapore on Friday afternoon or transfer AED1,000 to a parent. Wafr will introduce its consumer services in line with applicable regulatory processes and approvals, working with licensed partners where required.

Read more: UAE fintech enza raises $6 million in Seed+ round led by 4DX Ventures · Zipline raises $1.5 billion and signs 300-site Walmart deal · Adtech startup Journify raises $12 million Series A at fourfold valuation increase

Sources: Wamda, Inc. Arabia, FinSMEs, CairoScene

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