Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has announced the launch of Studio Launchpad, saying it is the world’s first venture studio platform exclusively focused on ubiquitous finance and digital asset technologies.
DIFC said the Launchpad is a key part of it’s 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.
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 Silicon Valley-based innovation advisory group.
The Launchpad is supported by an international group of venture building experts, digital asset pioneers and emerging technology strategists, it added.
Studio Launchpad is designed to attract and engage a consortium of leading start-up and corporate venture studios.
With this initiative, DIFC said, Dubai will become the leading hub for venture building in MEASA and join cities like San Francisco, New York, Berlin and Paris.
Over the next five years, over 20 studios will setup in the DIFC and are expected to launch over 200 new ventures of which over 100 will be scale-ups and 10 will gain unicorn status. Together, they will create over 8,000 innovation jobs in Dubai and attract over AED 2 billion in venture capital, DIFC said.
Essa Kazim, Governor of DIFC, said, “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.”
The Studio Launchpad streamlines the company-formation process and fast-tracks the development of new companies that will underpin DIFC’s 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.
DIFC has broken ground on a new 150,000 sq. ft. purpose-built facility that will house the Studio Launchpad team, which will work alongside corporate sponsors, investors, and the new ventures they co-create.
Every aspect of the design encourages the kind of spontaneous interactions that build community, create partnerships and drive innovation, DIFC said.