Muslim Tech Fest to award cash investment prize to promising startup
LONDON: Muslim Tech Fest 2025 is set to provide a major boost to Muslim entrepreneurs, with a £30,000 investment prize up for grabs in its flagship MTF Pitch competition, it was announced on Friday.
The event, which will take place on June 21 at the Novotel London West hotel, aims to spotlight and support the next wave of Muslim-led tech startups.
The announcement follows the success of sold-out events in London and San Francisco in 2024, which cemented MTF's reputation as a leading platform for Muslim entrepreneurs.
This year's edition will feature a high-profile lineup of speakers, including Zubair Junjunia, founder of ZNotes, an education platform with over 6 million users; Ahmed Khalifa, founder of PurpleByte and a specialist in web accessibility; Mai Medhat, an entrepreneur who successfully exited her startup; Mariam Ahmed, co-founder of the YC-backed artificial intelligence startup Menza; and Arda Awais, an award-winning designer and founder of Identity 2.0.
With the launch of MTF Pitch, the festival is looking to support emerging startups that are shaping the future of technology and entrepreneurship.
Arfah Farooq, co-founder of MTF, said: 'Muslim entrepreneurs have the talent, vision, and drive to transform industries, and MTF is here to amplify that. With initiatives like MTF Pitch, we are not just talking about change, we are making it happen.'
MTF has brought together some of the most influential Muslim founders, investors, and business leaders over the past few years, creating a space for networking, investment, and the sharing of knowledge.
At last year's San Francisco event, Haroon Mokhtarzada, CEO of Rocket Money and co-founder of Truebill, spoke about scaling a $1.3 billion personal finance platform and achieving one of the largest exits by a Muslim founder.
Chris Blauvelt, the founder of LaunchGood, discussed the power of community-backed funding, highlighting how the platform had raised over $688 million from 2.1 million donors from 155 countries.
Rama Chakaki and Raed Masri, of Transform VC, a Silicon Valley-based impact-driven investment firm, led a discussion on how Muslim founders were shaping the future of ethical investing.
Attendees at the 2024 London show heard from Ismail Jeilani, co-founder and CEO of LiveLink, who shared his experience securing $3 million in funding from investors including Google and Biz Stone.
There was also a conversation with Ruhul Amin and Husayn Kassai, co-founders of Onfido, who spoke about building their AI-powered identity verification company, which was recently acquired in one of the largest tech exits of the decade in the UK.
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