In H1 2024, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), an international financial center located in Abu Dhabi, witnessed significant growth and progress.
During the period, ADGM issued more than 1,200 new licenses, marking a 20.5% increase compared to the same period in 2023. This growth in licenses was accompanied by a substantial increase in the workforce, with over 2,500 new employees joining the financial hub.
A portion of this growth was driven by the fintech sector, where companies are utilizing cutting-edge technologies and innovative business models to tackle challenges in lending, banking, and business finance. These fintech firms are playing a crucial role in enhancing efficiency and accessibility across the financial services industry.
In 2024, several prominent fintech companies announced plans to establish their presence within ADGM, further solidifying the center’s reputation as a leading hub for financial innovation.
Blockdaemon
Blockdaemon, a leading institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure company, announced in May its plans to further expand its operations in the UAE. The company will establish a new office and set up an entity in Abu Dhabi under the Registration Authority of ADGM. This expansion aims to enhance Blockdaemon’s ability to deliver Web3 infrastructure solutions in the region, including its node and validator infrastructure solutions and self-hosted multi-party computation (MPC) wallet technology.
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in the US, Blockdaemon focuses on providing high-quality infrastructure for blockchain protocols, as well as for crypto-native and traditional financial institutions. The company offers extensive protocol coverage with technical depth, industry-leading service level agreements (SLAs), over 70 global points of presence through more than 10 cloud and bare metal providers, and 24/7 support. Its services cater to exchanges, custodians, crypto platforms, financial institutions, and developers, providing them with integrated solutions such as dedicated nodes, application programming interfaces (APIs), staking, liquid staking, and MPC technology.
Blockdaemon first expanded into the Asia-Pacific region in February 2022, followed by its entry into Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in March 2022.
Thndr
Thndr, an Egyptian digital investment platform, secured in May regulatory approval from ADGM. This development marks a pivotal moment for Thndr as it ventures into the UAE market, aiming to enhance financial inclusion and provide accessible investment opportunities to a broader audience.
Thndr is a leading mobile-first investment platform in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The platform makes it easy to invest in stocks, bonds, and funds through its mobile-based and low-commission digital stock brokerage. With a focus on financial literacy, it equips investors with the knowledge to make self-directed investment decisions and prides itself on being an agent of change in the investment sector, democratizing investing for everybody in the region.
Thndr has achieved notable success in Egypt, where it has become the top investment platform. In 2023, Egyptians traded an impressive US$1.8 billion on the platform, and by April 2024, Thndr accounted for 8.5% of all retail transactions in the Egyptian market. The platform has garnered over 3 million downloads, with 500,000 active monthly users
Thndr’s expansion in the UAE is supported by its affiliation with Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem. Hub71’s extensive network of corporations, national champions, and investors will help Thndr integrate smoothly into the UAE market and potentially transform the traditional investment landscape.
Tuum
In April, Tuum, a leading next-generation core banking provider, announced its strategic expansion into the Middle East market and the creation of a regional headquarters at ADGM. The office will serve as Tuum’s regional headquarters, managing its operations across the Middle East and facilitating close collaboration with local banks, fintech startups, and financial institutions.
This move followed Tuum’s Series B funding round secured in February to support its global expansion efforts, with a particular emphasis on the Middle East, and to accelerate the enhancement of its core banking platform to meet the region’s specific needs.
Tuum provides a cloud-native core banking platform that’s highly versatile, supporting various deployment options, including software-as-a-service (SaaS) as well as bank-hosted public, private, or hybrid environments. This flexibility ensures that Tuum’s solutions comply with regulatory requirements in each Middle Eastern country while leveraging the benefits of scalable cloud deployments.
Tuum employs a smart migration approach, allowing clients to go live on average within seven months. Once operational, the system facilitates the launch of new products and the expansion into new business lines, including accounts, lending, payments, and cards, all from a single platform. The platform also supports business transformation by offering a business builder tool that allows banks to precisely configure their operational, sourcing, and distribution models to capitalize on digital opportunities.
Klub
In February, Klub, India’s largest platform for revenue-based financing (RBF), announced its expansion to the Middle East by securing a Category 3C license from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) at ADGM. The license allows Klub to manage private credit funds under the newly established credit fund regime, and represents a significant milestone for the company, marking it as the first RBF-focused credit fund to enter the Middle East market.
Founded in 2020, Klub provides a pioneering technology platform offering a speedy and fully digital application and assessment process for the provision of flexible credit to digital small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The company says it has invested in over 600 businesses and continues to lead the equity-free funding space, helping businesses in diversified sectors including direct-to-consumer, electric vehicles, e-commerce, healthtech, cleantech, edtech and more.
Laser Digital
In June, Laser Digital announced that the FSRA has approved to grant it a financial services permission (FSP). This approval completes Laser Digital’s licensing process with ADGM, allowing the company to offer broker-dealer services and asset/fund management services related to both virtual and traditional assets.
Laser Digital, a digital asset business backed by Nomura, is at the forefront of digital finance. The company provides scalable and robust opportunities across trading, solutions, asset management, and ventures. It emphasizes high standards of risk management, compliance, and commercial viability, driven by a commitment to responsible engagement with digital assets.
Aspen Digital
In June, Hong Kong-headquartered fintech Aspen Digital was granted an in-principle approval (IPA) from the FSRA to carry out regulated activities in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Pending final regulatory approval, Aspen Digital will be licensed to offer financial services from ADGM and will expand its product offerings and presence in the rapidly growing digital asset ecosystem of the Middle East.
Founded in 2021 under Everest Ventures Group and supported by investors such as Rothschild Investment Trust and Liberty City Ventures, Aspen Digital provides a leading technology platform for family offices, ultra-high-net-worth individuals, and wealth managers. The comprehensive service, designed as a one-stop solution for private wealth management, aims to enhance allocation to alternative digital assets.
Symphony
In May, Symphony, a leading markets infrastructure and technology platform, announced that it was expanding its global footprint by establishing a commercial office in ADGM. This move highlights Symphony’s commitment to the region and its confidence in the commercial opportunities it offers.
Symphony is a comprehensive communications platform for global finance, offering a range of services including messaging and collaboration, trader voice, data and analytics, and directory and identity solutions. As a highly secure and compliant platform, the company provides solutions designed to standardize, automate, and innovate financial services workflows. It boasts a vibrant community of over half a million financial professionals, a trusted directory, and serves more than 1,000 institutions. It supports over 2,000 community-built applications and bots.
Symphony says it is already collaborating with financial institutions in the Middle East.
Featured image credit: edited from freepik
