German fintech insha scoops €2.5m and sets sights on European expansion

The sharia-compliant banking app, which won AltFi’s Pitch Off at the Berlin Summit in 2019, is hoping to launch in the UK with the fresh funding.

German challenger bank insha has closed a €2.5m seed round and has set its sights on European expansions. 

The round, which was led by Turkish payment service provider Param, will be used by the fintech to further expand its ethical banking product. 

Berlin-based insha is focused on capturing Europe’s Muslim community, which is often neglected by other digital banks, helping its customers to achieve savings goals, budget and track spending, all without breaking sharia-related banking rules. 

The digital bank, which was the winner of AltFi’s Pitch Off at the 2019 Berlin Summit, is sharia-compliant, ensuring that deposits are not invested into companies, such as arms manufacturers or used for consumer loans that charge interest.  

Yakup Sezer, founder and managing director of insha, said: "This investment will not only strengthen our financial position while we continue our European expansion.” 

“Param also brings a wealth of relevant experience. The money will help to optimize and localize our activities in line with our expansion strategy.” 

Despite Germany being the fintech’s core market, having amassed over 40,000 users in the country, insha is a digital offshoot of Albaraka Türk Participation Bank based in Istanbul and was originally developed for the Turkish market. 

Emin Can Yılmaz, founder of Param, added: "We have full confidence in insha’s vision and in their banking solutions.” 

“With our investment we want to strengthen both insha and ourselves and accelerate our European expansion.” 

Insha's app is currently only available in Germany, but the fintech hopes that the funding will help it put down roots across Europe, including in the UK, in the near future.