Abu Dhabi Islamic neobank Mal wins in-principle central bank approval after record $230 million seed
The AI-native, Shariah-compliant banking startup raised the largest fintech seed round in Middle East and Africa history in January and cleared a key regulatory step toward launch in May.
Mal, an Abu Dhabi-based startup building an AI-native, Shariah-compliant digital bank, has received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE to establish a licensed bank, the company confirmed, a required step on the path to a full commercial launch.
The approval follows a $230 million seed round the company closed in January, led by Abu Dhabi investment platform BlueFive Capital. Mal has described the raise as the largest fintech seed round in the history of the Middle East and Africa region. The company was founded in 2025 by Abdallah Abu-Sheikh.
In-principle approval is a preliminary regulatory signal rather than a banking license itself: it indicates the central bank is prepared to move the applicant toward full authorization, typically subject to further conditions around capital, governance and operational readiness before a license is actually issued and the bank can open for business.
Mal's pitch combines two distinct bets — that Shariah-compliant banking has room for a digital-first challenger in the Gulf, and that AI-native infrastructure, built without a legacy core banking system to migrate off of, can let a new entrant move faster than incumbents. Neither claim has been tested with real customers yet; the company has not disclosed a target launch date for public deposits or lending products.