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Zamanat has announced its sponsorship of Zamanat Fund CEIC Limited (the “Fund”) — a DIFC-domiciled tokenized private credit fund with a target size of up to USD 100 million. The Fund directly targets the GCC’s estimated $250 billion SME financing gap, where just 11% of SMEs have access to credit.
The Fund also serves as Zamanat’s first live proof point for regulated fund tokenization on ZIGChain, focused on GCC private credit.
Closing a $250 Billion Structural Gap
Across the GCC, SMEs drive economic growth yet remain significantly underserved by traditional financing. In the UAE alone, SMEs generate more than half of GDP and employ the majority of the private-sector workforce — yet receive less than 10% of total bank lending.
 
The Fund will invest in private credit across the region, directing capital toward strong homegrown companies whose financing needs aren’t fully met through traditional lending channels. The strategy aligns with 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. 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,” said Umair Tariq, Founder and CEO of Zamanat.
Zamanat Targets GCC’s $250 Billion SME Financing Gap With Up to $100 Million Tokenized Private Credit Fund
Zamanat has announced its sponsorship of Zamanat Fund CEIC Limited (the “Fund”) — a DIFC-domiciled tokenized private credit fund with a target size of up to USD 100 million. The Fund directly targets the GCC’s estimated $250 billion SME financing gap, in a region where just 11% of SMEs have access to credit. It also stands as Zamanat’s first live proof point for regulated fund tokenization on ZIGChain.
Closing a $250 Billion Structural Gap
Across the GCC, SMEs are central to economic growth yet remain significantly underserved by traditional financing. In the UAE alone, SMEs generate more than half of GDP and employ the majority of the private-sector workforce — yet receive less than 10% of total bank lending.
The Fund will invest in private credit across the region, directing capital toward strong homegrown companies whose financing needs aren’t fully met through traditional channels. The strategy aligns with national ambitions to expand SME participation, private-sector growth, and access to alternative financing — including priorities under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the UAE Centennial 2071.
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. Truleum Venture Partners Limited manages it, and Apex Group administers it. The Fund issues interests as ZM1 Investment Tokens on ZIGChain within a regulated, whitelisted environment.
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 — allowing qualifying investors who meet DFSA Professional Client criteria to participate alongside institutional investors.
Disrupt.com backs Zamanat, 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, 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, combining investment structuring, Shariah expertise, regulated partner routes, and digital distribution to bring real-world assets to market across both traditional and digital channels. The DIFC-domiciled Fund evidences the regulated fund-tokenization, digital ownership, and partner-orchestration capability within that wider build — with a separate pipeline of Digital Shariah Assets progressing across private credit, receivables, real estate, and other asset classes.
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. 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,” said Peter Hughes, Founder & CEO of Apex Group.
The global market for Digital Shariah Assets does not yet exist as an institutional category. Zamanat is building it.
About Zamanat
Zamanat is building the global market for Digital Shariah Assets, connecting asset originators with global capital through investment structuring, Shariah expertise, regulated partner routes, tokenization, and distribution across traditional and digital channels. The company also sponsors and develops institutional investment products through appropriately licensed partners, with each product following its own legal and regulatory framework.
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