Deal focus: CMIA monetizes Muslim growth

There are about 1.8 billion Muslims in the world, according to the Pew Research Institute, and nearly two thirds live in Asia. While Indonesia currently has the largest Muslim population with 222 million, India is expected to take top spot by 2050, with at least 300 million. Singapore-based Bitsmedia Holdings was established in 2009 to address the needs of this large community.

The company is best known for Muslim Pro, an app that provides adherents with precise prayer times regardless of where they are in the world. Available in more than 15 languages, the app also offers the full Quran with Arabic scripts and audio recitations, a Zakat calculator, and online forums.

“For a Muslim, it’s very important to have accurate and wholesome information on prayer times, Qibla or the direction to face for prayer, fasting times during Ramadan, and so on. Because Muslim Pro is a comprehensive app that provides such information, it is widely used by the global Muslim community,” says Chong Min Lee, a managing partner at CMIA Capital Partners.

The private equity firm recently acquired a controlling stake in Bitsmedia alongside Malaysia-based Affin Hwang Asset Management. Financial terms weren’t disclosed but Lee says it’s an eight-digit figure sum in US dollars.

Muslim Pro has been downloaded 45 million times, and has more than 10 million monthly average users and two million daily average users. The user base is spread across Muslim countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, as well as countries with large Muslim minority populations like France, the UK and Germany. The app is supported by mobile advertising, although a $4.99 premium version is ad-free and allows additional customization options such as a larger selection of voices for the Adhan and Quran recitations, and mobile wallpaper themes.

The business generates $5-10 million in revenue per year – 90% of it from mobile advertising – and is profitable, but Lee believes still has a long way to go.  “We’ll continue penetrating in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, which have large Muslim populations, and expand into new markets,” says Lee. “We are also tapping into new verticals.”

The firm is exploring potential collaborations with Halal food vendors, Haj services providers, religious authorities, and e-commerce merchants. Thomson Reuters forecasts the global Islamic economy – including expenditures on food, fashion, travel and entertainment – will be worth $3 trillion by 2021, up from $1.9 trillion in 2015. Meanwhile, Islam is set to become the world’s most widespread religion by 2050, with 4.8 billion followers.

“For these online platforms, you still need to have offline engagement with users. For example, we need a business development team on the ground to develop partnerships with e-commerce businesses that want to target our large user base, or even to verify that the halal restaurants listed are authentic,” Lee says. 

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Buyouts
• Technology
• Malaysia
• TMT
• CMIA Capital Partners