Gabriel Investment Syndicate and Scottish Enterprise backed the Edinburgh space firm to accelerate research and design.
"We are in the midst of the second space race with rocket developers on the cusp of launching from UK soil, with the number of launches across the globe growing exponentially."
The London-based car finance platform has closed a £2.3m debt and equity seed round.
"Since Ayan Capital’s launch, the market response in the UK has been overwhelmingly positive. Our mission is to address the growing demand for private hire vehicle lending in the UK, based on the principles of Islamic finance. We find ourselves at an exciting intersection. The UK car finance market is growing, and there is a clear demographic of drivers from Muslim backgrounds who are in need of Sharia-compliant financial products. Private EV and hybrid car loans are popular for those who drive for companies like Uber, Bolt, Blacklane, Wheely, etc. and we are likely to see further demand increase. The product is open to everyone, and approximately 10% of our current customers are from non-Muslim backgrounds. The seed funding that we’ve recently closed is a testament to the current services and future potential of Ayan Capital in transforming Islamic finance in the UK. We are proud to have a committed group of investors with a wealth of experience becoming part of our story, and look forward to welcoming many more."
The seed round was led by Martin Brailsford with participation from Episode 1, Haatch and Portfolio Ventures.
"Given my background at Amazon and then as an investor in a number of e-commerce businesses I understood how hard it is for them to predict their cashflow and decide what strategic moves to make to improve profits and cashflow. It’s also really hard to get expert finance advice cost effectively. Viable makes it easy for business owners to plan ahead and achieve commercial success."
The funding round was led by Round2 Capital and will support international expansion and software scaling.
"We’ve been on a mission to solve schools’ workforce challenges. This investment brings us closer to our goal of helping the education system save over $125 million annually through our fairer, more efficient recruitment model. As we enter into the next phase of our journey, we aim to reach out to more educational institutions across the UK and US."