Murtada Shah is Co-Founder at Aven, a fintech unicorn offering home equity-backed credit cards that help homeowners access lower-cost capital. Aven has issued over $3 billion in credit lines and saved customers more than $215 million in interest since launching in 2022.

Murtada attended University of Alberta studying electrical and computer engineering and founded Serene Technologies in 2006, a software development company serving healthcare, energy, and education sectors. He has extensive experience in the software industry working across various technologies and platforms.

Murtada co-founded Aven in 2019 alongside Sadi Khan and Collin Wikman, former executives from Facebook and Square. The company is backed by top-tier investors including Khosla Ventures, Sequoia, Founders Fund, and General Catalyst.

Aven reached unicorn status in July 2024 with a $142 million Series D at $1 billion valuation, then raised $110 million Series E in September 2025 at $2.2 billion valuation. The company has been named to Forbes Fintech 50 and serves over 33,000 cardholders across 33 US states.

Aven's technology platform has tripled its customer base year-over-year and processes home equity applications in as little as 15 minutes versus traditional 42-day timelines. The company offers rates as low as 7.99% APR and has earned a 4.9-star rating on Trustpilot.