(MENAFN) The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has launched its global venture studio initiative and signed agreements with banks and venture companies to attract over Dh2 billion ($544.5 million) in venture capital. The DIFC is one of the fastest-growing financial centres in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia region.

The DIFC Launchpad has signed corporate partnership agreements with Mashreq, Commercial Bank of Dubai, and global payments company Mastercard. The venture studio initiative helps build start-ups from the concept stage to launch and provides capital and guidance through the incubation period. It also assists start-ups in growing using internal capabilities and external support.

The DIFC has partnered with Antler, BIM Ventures, Future Labs, and R/GA as studio partners to provide venture-building expertise. The financial centre aims to have over 20 studios set up in the DIFC, launch over 200 ventures, and create more than 8,000 innovation-focused jobs in Dubai.

In April 2022, the DIFC announced that these ventures would include over 100 scale-ups (companies with ten or more employees that have had an average annual growth of 20% over the past three years) and ten companies valued at over $1 billion.

DIFC governor Essa Kazim said at the launch event that the financial centre aimed to provide comprehensive, supportive, and enabling frameworks to help firms succeed. The Launchpad initiative would change the way corporate and venture studios operate and scale-up by providing all the necessary support to develop, test, and launch new start-ups, scale-ups, and corporate ventures.

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