StructureCurates and screens third-party private funds and deals, packaging them for Muslim investors. Each opportunity is Shariah-screened (structure, leverage, sector) before listing; investors commit capital into funds/SPVs and bear full market/illiquidity risk. Returns depend on underlying fund performance; no guarantees.
A halal private-markets platform (VC, private equity, private credit, real estate) spun out of Islamic Finance Guru, with Shariah oversight reported via Amanah Advisors. Structurally investment-based, but private-markets deals are high-risk, illiquid and generally not FSCS-protected. Note the IFG/Cur8 common ownership when reading IFG coverage. Do your own due diligence on each deal.
Read the contract →Established & regulatory standing
The verifiable facts
Established
Launched out of Islamic Finance Guru (IFG) to give Muslim investors access to private funds; co-founded by Ibrahim Khan (also an IFG co-founder). Rebranded to Cur8 from IFG.VC in 2022; reports US$200m+ invested via the platform.
Regulatory standing
Operates in FCA-regulated private-investment space (typically for high-net-worth / sophisticated / elective professional investors); confirm the exact FCA permission / appointed-representative structure on the FCA Register. Private-markets investments are high-risk, illiquid, and generally NOT FSCS-protected against investment loss.
Shariah board
Who certifies it
Shariah oversight reported via Amanah Advisors (Mufti Faraz Adam's firm); Cur8 describes annual Shariah audits and quarterly Shariah board meetings. Verify the exact named certifier for each deal.
A named, credentialled board is a real signal — but a provider’s own board certifying its own product is not the same as arm’s-length review. Weigh it alongside the independent commentary below.
Independent scholarly review
What independent scholars have said
Independent Shariah advisory via Amanah Advisors (Mufti Faraz Adam). Note Cur8's close affiliation with IFG (same founders) — IFG is a review/media business, not an independent fatwa body, so IFG commentary on Cur8 is not arm's-length.
Independent commentary is weighed, not treated as a final personal ruling. A body that rules one way is one respected voice, not a universal consensus — and rulings can lag changes to a live contract.
How the structure works
The mechanics, in principle
Curates and screens third-party private funds and deals, packaging them for Muslim investors. Each opportunity is Shariah-screened (structure, leverage, sector) before listing; investors commit capital into funds/SPVs and bear full market/illiquidity risk. Returns depend on underlying fund performance; no guarantees.
This describes the structure in principle — it is not a verdict on the executed contract. Note too that FCA/PRA regulation guarantees consumer protection and solvency oversight, not Shariah-compliance; the checklist below is what tests the fiqh.
From the public documents
How the contract actually works
Read from Cur8 Capital’s own public materials — white papers, product pages, FAQs and fatāwā — not its executed contract, which is generally not published. Where a point is undisclosed, it is said plainly rather than guessed. Sources are listed below.
Cur8 is a private-markets platform (VC, private equity, private credit, real estate), so there is no single debt contract to read and — unlike a public-equity index product such as Wahed's HLAL or Wealthsimple's WSHR — no published, line-by-line financial-ratio screen to audit; compliance is done DEAL BY DEAL, which makes the auditable analogue its screening PROCESS rather than a numeric rule-set. What IS verifiable from Cur8's own Governance & Compliance page (fetched live June 2026): the platform trades as IFG.VC Limited, authorised and regulated by the FCA (firm reference 943736, confirmable on the FCA Register), a subsidiary of Islamicfinanceguru Limited; in-house screening is led by founding partner Ibrahim Khan (a Master's in Islamic Finance plus an Alimiyyah scholarly degree), with additional muftis consulted as needed; independent Shariah advisory is provided by Amanah Advisors (Mufti Faraz Adam's firm — he is a Certified Shariah Advisor and Auditor); and the platform runs an annual Shariah audit plus quarterly Shariah-board meetings. The screen examines sector (companies in non-compliant sectors such as alcohol or gambling are excluded) and financing structure (it states it avoids startups likely to need interest-based debt later and negotiates legal terms to manage less-obvious compliance risk), and Cur8 says it turns down otherwise-attractive deals that raise compliance issues. The HONEST GAPS to weigh: (1) the per-deal Shariah certificates are not published by default — ask to see the certificate for any specific opportunity before committing; (2) no AAOIFI numeric thresholds or a public screen document are disclosed, so compliance rests on Amanah Advisors' attestation plus the annual audit rather than an independently-readable rule-set; (3) Cur8 itself invests in / takes a profit share from deals and shares founders with IFG (a media/review business), so IFG commentary on Cur8 is not arm's-length — read it with that conflict in mind; (4) private-markets investments are high-risk, illiquid and generally NOT FSCS-protected against investment loss. Reconfirm the named certifier, the deal-level certificate and the full fee/carry terms for each individual opportunity.
The Six-Pillar test
The questions that decide it
This is the universal lens this site applies to every home-finance contract, anywhere. Read each pillar as a question to put to Cur8 Capital’s executed contract — not its brochure.
- 1
Real ownership
Does the financier genuinely take ownership of the asset — even briefly — and bear a real owner's risk, rather than only ever holding a debt secured against it?
- 2
Risk-sharing
If the asset is destroyed or its value collapses, does the financier share that loss in proportion to its stake, or is the customer left bearing it alone?
- 3
Rent vs interest
In a lease/co-ownership, is the rent benchmarked to a genuine market rent for the property — or is it calibrated to an interest rate (a base-rate + margin) in disguise?
- 4
Default mechanism
On default, does the contract behave like the end of a real lease/partnership — or does it accelerate like a loan, demanding the full outstanding 'principal' plus charges?
- 5
No guaranteed pre-fixed return
Is the financier's return tied to real ownership and risk, or is it a pre-fixed, guaranteed sum that arrives regardless of what happens to the asset?
- 6
Substance over form
Strip away the Arabic labels: does the cashflow, risk, and outcome differ from a conventional loan — or is it the same economics wearing a compliant name (ḥiyal)?
Before you sign
What to ask Cur8 Capital, in writing
Put these to the provider in writing and keep the answers. The reply — not the marketing — is what tells you whether the structure holds.
What is your exact FCA status (direct authorisation or appointed representative, and of whom)?
Which investor category must I qualify as, and what are the liquidity/lock-up terms?
Who Shariah-certifies each individual deal, and can I see that certificate?
What are all fees/carry, and how is performance reported net of costs?
Given the IFG/Cur8 shared ownership, how are conflicts of interest managed?
The honest gap
What we have not verified
- How independent Shariah and editorial oversight is given the IFG/Cur8 common ownership.
- The realised track record (DPI), not just paper/IRR marks.
- How valuations of illiquid holdings are struck and verified.
Sources
What this read is built on
The verifiable references behind this page — provider documents and independent scholarly resolutions. Read them yourself; do not take our summary on trust.