Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the leading global financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, announced the launch of the worlds first venture studio platform exclusively focused on ubiquitous finance and digital asset technologies. The initiative is a key part of DIFCs efforts to achieve the goals of its 2030 strategy by attracting the best minds and companies from around the world to Dubai by providing them with all the necessary support to develop, test and launch new start-ups, scale-ups and corporate ventures on an unprecedented scale, time to market and quality.

To power this vision, DIFC is launching a dedicated unit called theStudio Launchpad, which is supported by an international group of venture building experts, digital asset pioneers and emerging technology strategists. Studio Launchpad is designed to attract and engage a consortium of leading start-up and corporate venture studios. The effort builds upon DIFCs unique ecosystem to enable collaboration and co-creation between venture studios, corporations, entrepreneurs, investors and academic partners from around the world.

Venture studios are innovative organisations that proactively build and invest in start-ups and help them actively achieve success with their own internal capabilities. There are over 730 active venture studios around the world. Over 50 per cent of them launched in the past 5 years. The rate of growth among corporate venture studios is even higher. New ventures that launch from studios experience 30 per cent higher company success rates and about 5 per cent make it to unicorn status according to research published by the Global Startup Studio Network.

His Excellency Essa Kazim, Governor of DIFC, said: DIFC is already home to the largest financial and FinTech ecosystems in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. Launching the first global Venture Studio Launchpad is a core pillar of our vision to put DIFC at the centre of the digital transformation of the financial sector in the UAE and globally, reflecting the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

The Studio Launchpad streamlines the company-formation process and fast-tracks the development of new companies that will underpin DIFCs quickly developing Ubiquitous Finance ecosystem. The Launchpad also supports fundraising and scaling of new ventures by providing resident venture studio operators with access to a global network of potential customers, entrepreneurs, investors, and subject-matter experts, all underpinned by a progressive regulatory environment and world-class infrastructure.

Part of the Launchpad offering will be a first-of-its-kind Research Living Lab which will drive thought leadership and hands-on research in this fast-evolving space with the aim to open new opportunities and produce data and insights that can inform how to shape existing and future business models, laws, and regulations.

The Ubiquitous Finance innovation ecosystem and Studio Launchpad was developed by DIFC in partnership with Dubai-based venture studio Enhance Ventures and Silicon Foundry, a leading Silicon Valley-based innovation advisory group. The studio model is a great fit for the Middle East due to its proactivity and ability to support founders in the early days of operations. DIFC is the best place for the model to strive in the region as it is the largest cluster of leading financial institutions and fintech and Innovation companies. It provides the perfect mix of talent, quality infrastructure, strong regulatory offering, and financing.