Alif secures $10M debt round as Uzbekistan tightens BNPL rules
What's the deal? AlifDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised $10 million in debt financing from Armenia-based Ineco Group to expand Alif NasiyaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, its installment payments business in Uzbekistan. The deal is structured under the mudaraba Islamic finance model.
Why now? From January 2027, Uzbekistan will bring Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) under a formal regulatory framework, with providers facing closer oversight. The Central Bank has been preparing the rules as installment payments spread beyond retail into the wider digital finance market.
What could go wrong? The new rules cap BNPL contracts at 12 months. Alif Nasiya currently offers terms of up to 24 months, so a shorter maximum could change the economics of higher-value purchases and how retailers structure offers.
What's the endgame? The mudaraba structure fits Alif's focus on Sharia-compliant finance. It lists Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bangladesh, and Indonesia among markets it is exploring, where that experience could become an advantage.
For now, the funding gives Alif room to build its retail network before the changes take effect. But its next phase, the company says, will be shaped as much by the new framework as by its ability to add customers.
The signal: Uzbekistan is about to find out what its BNPL market looks like once regulation catches up with growth. Alif has capital to keep expanding — the harder test is whether its model still works under tighter limits.
Read more: Tech Revolt
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
