Dubai, UAE, September 10, 2026 — via Chainwire — Zamanat today announced its sponsorship of Zamanat Fund CEIC Limited (the “Fund”), a Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)-domiciled tokenized private credit fund with a target size of up to USD 100 million. The vehicle is the company’s first live proof point for regulated fund tokenization on ZIGChain, focused on GCC private credit.

The Fund targets the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) estimated $250 billion SME financing gap, where only 11 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises across the region currently have access to credit.

Closing a $250 Billion Structural Gap in GCC SME Credit

Across the GCC, SMEs are central to economic growth yet remain significantly underserved by traditional financing. In the UAE, SMEs generate more than half of GDP and employ the majority of the private-sector workforce, yet receive less than 10 percent of total bank lending.

The Fund will invest in private credit across the region, directing capital toward strong homegrown companies whose financing needs are not fully met through traditional lending channels. The strategy supports national ambitions to expand SME participation, private-sector growth, and access to alternative financing, including priorities set out under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the UAE Centennial 2071.

“Strong businesses across the GCC still struggle to access growth capital despite sound fundamentals,” said Umair Tariq, Founder and CEO of Zamanat. “Zamanat sponsored the Fund to create a credible route between those businesses and institutional capital. With a target size of up to USD 100 million and interests issued as Investment Tokens, it is our first live proof point for bringing GCC private credit into a regulated digital structure for Professional Clients.”

Bringing GCC Private Credit Into Digital Markets

Tokenization expands the infrastructure around traditionally hard-to-access private-market assets without changing the underlying investment or credit profile. The Fund combines a regional private credit strategy, a DIFC fund structure, institutional administration, and digital issuance on ZIGChain, offering a first live demonstration of how regional private credit can be brought into a DFSA-regulated tokenized structure for Professional Clients.

Structurally, the Fund is a DFSA-regulated closed-ended fund registered as an Exempt Fund and classified as a Credit Fund. The DIFC Dubai’s financial free zone with its own regulator, the Dubai Financial Services Authority, and the Exempt Fund designation is what confines participation to Professional Clients under the DFSA’s Conduct of Business Rulebook. It is managed by Truleum Venture Partners Limited and administered by Apex Group. Fund interests will be issued as ZM1 Investment Tokens on ZIGChain within a regulated, whitelisted environment — an arrangement in which token ownership is restricted to pre-approved, eligible wallets, keeping blockchain settlement aligned with the Fund’s regulatory eligibility rules.

As sponsor, Zamanat brings its regional private credit, investment structuring, and institutional partnership expertise to the Fund’s development, while Truleum retains responsibility for all regulated fund-management activities.

The ZM1 Investment Token structure provides a blockchain-native ownership and settlement layer within the Fund’s regulated framework. It also allows qualifying investors who meet the DFSA Professional Client criteria to participate alongside institutional investors.

Zamanat is backed by Disrupt.com, a MENA-based, operator-led AI-native venture builder and lead investor in the business.

Building the Global Market for Digital Shariah Assets

Global Islamic finance assets are projected to reach $9.7 trillion by 2029, according to the LSEG and ICD 2025 Islamic Finance Development Indicator Report, yet demand for digital and Shariah-aligned assets is growing faster than the institutional infrastructure connecting them with global capital.

Zamanat continues to build the global market for Digital Shariah Assets. Its wider operating model combines investment structuring, Shariah expertise, regulated partner routes, and digital distribution to bring real-world assets to market through traditional and digital channels. The DIFC-domiciled Fund evidences the regulated fund-tokenization, digital ownership, and partner-orchestration capability within that broader build.

Zamanat is also progressing a separate pipeline of Digital Shariah Assets across private credit, receivables, real estate, and other asset classes. Near-term markers to watch are the Fund’s progress toward its up-to-USD 100 million target and the pace at which pipeline assets move through the same combination of regulated structures and digital distribution. The global market for Digital Shariah Assets does not yet exist as an institutional category — the company is building it.

Institutional Partnerships

Apex Group acts as Fund Administrator, providing institutional fund administration and controls from the outset.

“Zamanat is supporting the creation of a new category in Digital Assets,” said Peter Hughes, Founder & CEO of Apex Group. “Bringing institutional structure and digital distribution together within a DFSA-regulated framework sets the standard for how this market should be built, and this fund shows the model working at institutional scale. We are proud to support the infrastructure behind it, and we look forward to partnering further on the projects Zamanat already has in motion.”

Notes to Editors

Sources

• LSEG and ICD, 2025 Islamic Finance Development Indicator Report, October 14, 2025 (global Islamic finance assets projected to reach $9.7 trillion by 2029)
• World Bank, Competition in the GCC SME Lending Markets: An Initial Assessment (estimated $250 billion GCC SME credit gap; 11 percent of SMEs with access to credit)
• Kearney, GCC Retail Banking Radar 2024

Investor Notice

This communication, as related to Zamanat Fund CEIC Limited, is approved by Truleum Venture Partners Limited in the DIFC (DFSA License Number: F008013).

This release is for information only. It is not an offer, invitation, or recommendation to subscribe for interests in Zamanat Fund CEIC Limited or to acquire ZM1 Investment Tokens. Any participation will be made only through the Fund Manager, final offering documents, and Professional Client eligibility requirements. For the avoidance of doubt, this communication is intended for and directed only to investors who meet the requirements to be considered Professional Clients as specified under the Dubai Financial Services Authority Conduct of Business Rulebook, Rule 2.3.3. The Fund is an “Exempt Fund,” and accordingly the ZM1 Investment Tokens are available only to Professional Clients.

This release and the information contained herein do not constitute, and are not intended to constitute, a public offer of securities in any other jurisdiction and should not be construed as such. The ZM1 Investment Tokens are available only to a limited number of investors from the DIFC and have not been approved by, or licensed or registered with, any other relevant licensing authority or governmental agency. No transaction will be concluded in onshore UAE outside the DIFC.

The Fund is not an Islamic Fund and is not marketed as Shariah-compliant. References to Shariah in this release relate to Zamanat’s broader platform and market ambition, and not to the Fund.

About Zamanat

Zamanat is building the global market for Digital Shariah Assets. The company connects asset originators with global capital through investment structuring, Shariah expertise, regulated partner routes, tokenization, and distribution across traditional and digital channels.

Zamanat also sponsors and develops institutional investment products through appropriately licensed partners. Each product follows its own legal and regulatory framework and, where presented as Shariah-aligned, its own product-specific Shariah review and governance process.

Website: www.zamanathq.com

Media Contact: Katarzyna Kosior, Global Head of PR & Communications, Disrupt.com — info@zamanathq.com