Abu Dhabi Makes Another Pitch To Be The Region’s Fintech Hub
SOURCE: Inc. Arabia - Abu Dhabi Makes Another Pitch To Be The Region’s Fintech Hub
Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the UAE capital’s primary stock market, and Big 4 firm KPMG are teaming up to launch an initiative to boost the city’s fintech ecosystem.
Called the FinTech Abu Dhabi Innovation Challenge, the initiative is part of the inaugural two-day FinTech Abu Dhabi event in October.
The challenge includes an intensive five-week program for innovative and mature startups to conceptualize and present market-ready solutions for the South Asian and MEA financial services industry.
According to a statement, ten finalist teams will work on developing solutions to specific problem statements, divided into six focus areas: Financial and Investment Management, Financial Inclusion, RegTech, Trade Finance, InsurTech and Private Capital Markets.
The finalists will then showcase their solutions at the FinTech Demo Day in Abu Dhabi to a panel of industry experts.
Abu Dhabi has been very bullish on fintech in the last year or so. Last year, ADGM Chairman Ahmed Al Sayegh had declared that Abu Dhabi was hoping to become the capital for fintech in the MENA region.
Pointing out that fintech is growing at a staggering rate internationally, and the global value of fintech investment has expanded threefold in the past three years, Al Sayegh said, that the industry is expected to be worth as much as $12 billion by 2018.
How to get in?
Listing out the benefits for the startups, a statement said that finalists would get mentoring sessions and opportunities to enter or expand into the MEASA (Middle East, Africa, and South Asia) financial services sector.
They will also have opportunities to join adoption programs and collaborative ecosystems in the MEASA region, gain guidance and support from industry leaders, experts, and regulatory authorities.
Finalists will also receive fast-tracked consideration for admission to ADGM’s Regulatory Laboratory (RegLab) program and a $15,000 cash stipend to cover any costs associated with travel and accommodation.
As part of ADGM’s FinTech collaboration with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, (two) winners will also be able to participate in the Singapore Hackcelerator event to demonstrate their innovative solutions.
The challenge is currently open to mature startups with a working prototype and a go-to-market strategy.
The call for submissions for the program is already open, and submissions will be accepted until August 25, 2017, while the main event will be on October 22.
SOURCE: Inc. Arabia - Abu Dhabi Makes Another Pitch To Be The Region’s Fintech Hub