The Truth Behind Our Model

At Zaylo, we don’t self-declare halal. Our model, agreements, and review process are all verified and continuously reviewed by certified Shariah Advisors. These advisors have full visibility into:

• Every type of contract used between capital providers and businesses
• How profits and losses are calculated
• What businesses are screened or rejected

We follow AAOIFI (Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions) guidelines — the global gold standard for halal finance.

Yes — 100%.

There are no fixed interest, no guaranteed returns, and no lending. Zaylo follows a partnership model, not a lending model. You are not giving a loan to a business; you are entering into a Shariah-compliant commercial participation arrangement in their trade or project.

• • If the cycle is profitable, the commercial outcome is shared with you.
• • If the cycle results in a loss, that loss is shared proportionally too.

This is what makes it riba-free (interest-free) and Shariah-valid — the outcome depends on real business performance, not pre-decided amounts.

Zaylo earns a technology platform service fee — never a share of your commercial outcome. Indicatively, and subject to final confirmation:

• Roughly 1.5% of the transaction value on the MSME side
• Roughly 1–2% of the contributed amount on the capital provider side

These rates are still being finalized and will be confirmed and clearly disclosed before any live participation begins.

Here’s how Zaylo ensures trust and accountability:

• 🛡️Business Verification: Only vetted, registered SMEs can raise capital. Each business undergoes KYC, GST check, address verification, and financial screening.
• 🛡️Capital Control: Capital provider funds are designed to sit in a bank-held Capital Escrow — never released directly to the business owner — and to be disbursed only to pre-approved vendors once Zaylo's system automatically validates the request against the signed contract. Zaylo has no manual override on this — the bank executes the release, not us. Revenue the business earns from its own customers is designed to be tracked separately and never mixed with capital-provider funds.
• 🛡️Cycle Tracking: The platform is designed so each deal has a live status inside the app, letting capital providers see updates.
• 🛡️Shariah & Audit Oversight: Our Shariah Advisor and compliance partner are set up to monitor deal flow and prevent misuse.

Here's the mechanism step by step — deliberately without a rupee example that assumes a profit figure, since no outcome is ever fixed or guaranteed:

• Deployment: your contribution is designed to move into a bank-held Capital Escrow Account dedicated to that MSME — not into the business owner's hands.
• The cycle: the MSME draws only pre-approved vendor payments from that escrow for its verified trade activity, for the agreed cycle term (typically ~30 days).
• Revenue tracking: customer payments the business earns are tracked separately and cross-checked against the business's own bank statements.
• Settlement: at cycle end, the commercial outcome is calculated from the business's actual performance and settled to you per the signed agreement — your capital, plus or minus your share of that outcome.

See "Why won't you share average, highest, or lowest historical returns?" below for why we don't attach a specific number to this example.

Yes — over 150 real-world trade cycles were completed during a manual pilot phase, run prior to and outside the current Platform, ahead of introducing full automation. It's genuine early validation, but it didn't run through the automated escrow and settlement infrastructure this Platform is designed around — we're transparent about that distinction rather than blur it.

There are no profit or capital guarantees — because guarantees in partnership would make it a loan, not halal finance.

However, we minimize risk ethically, not artificially:

• Each business is screened for halal compliance, performance history, and genuine working capital need.
• Zaylo only allows businesses with strong trade history and verified accounts.
• Each cycle is short (around 1 month), so exposure is limited.
• Losses, if they occur, are shared fairly and transparently.

No — there's currently no minimum contribution amount. You can start with whatever amount you're comfortable with.

In our pilot phase, cycles have generally delivered positive outcomes for capital providers. That said, per Islamic finance principles, no return is ever guaranteed — each cycle's outcome depends on real business performance, and past performance is not indicative of future results.

Because publishing a number — even a historical average — reads as an implied benchmark of what to expect, which conflicts with Islamic finance principles and the fact that every cycle's outcome depends entirely on that specific business's real performance. What we do share instead: whether outcomes have generally been positive (see above), and each cycle's actual performance report is designed to be visible to that cycle's own capital providers directly.

Yes. Each participation is a separate, standalone bilateral commercial participation agreement between you and that specific MSME — Zaylo doesn't combine these into a managed portfolio on your behalf. You can take part in as many separate arrangements as you'd like.

Not under normal circumstances — participation runs for the agreed cycle term. The one exception: if the MSME breaches the commercial participation agreement, and Zaylo confirms the breach, you can exit that specific arrangement.

Yes — transparency is non-negotiable in our model.

For every completed business cycle:

• You’ll see a summary report of the actual business performance (revenue, expenses, and net profit).
• The platform is designed to track revenue in real time and cross-check it monthly against the business’s own bank statements (with their consent) — not just self-reported figures.

SMEs in India that:

• ✔Operate in ethical industries (no alcohol, gambling, riba-based services, speculation, etc.)
• ✔Have real business operations (trading, manufacturing, services)
• ✔Are open to sharing commercial outcome reports and transparent working capital cycles

As a rough estimate: KYC and verification typically take around 2 days, and a funding decision follows within about 5 days. These are indicative timelines, not fixed commitments, and may vary by case.

We don't have a confirmed public launch date yet. Full participation begins only once our banking/escrow partnerships are finalized and formal agreements are signed and disclosed. Join the waitlist to be notified the moment that changes — we won't commit to a specific date before it's real.

Because this is a commercial participation arrangement — not a loan — there's no personal guarantee or collateral at risk, and no interest or penalty accrues if a cycle performs below expectations.

The commercial outcome for that cycle is calculated from your business's actual performance and shared with capital providers accordingly — if the cycle shows no profit, none is shared. Delayed or underperforming cycles are reviewed case by case by Zaylo's compliance team; see our Grievance Redressal Policy if you ever need to raise a concern.

Yes — before any live participation, you'll be able to review the actual Musharakah Partnership Agreement (between you and the MSME) and the Wakalah Agreement (between you and Zaylo) in full, in advance of signing anything. Both are being finalized with our legal advisors; we intentionally don't publish a placeholder version, to avoid any confusion with the final terms.

Zaylo is operated by Falzin Technologies Private Limited, registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, under the object classification "Information Technology and Computer Service Activities."

Per its Memorandum of Association, the company is legally restricted from banking or investment activity — it cannot accept deposits, lend money, provide credit, pool or manage capital provider funds, operate as a bank or NBFC, or run a collective investment scheme.

Zaylo operates strictly as a technology platform and marketplace intermediary connecting independent parties for partnership-based funding. It does not hold or control user funds at any point — all money movement is designed to be executed by independent, regulated third-party payment and escrow partners, governed by digital agreements between the parties involved. We will name these partners on the Platform once finalized.