Dubai’s financial centre partners with Startupbootcamp to expand fintech offering

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has announced a partnership with incubator network Startupbootcamp to explore the establishment of programmes in areas including fintech, regtech and insurtech.

The potential incubators will expand upon the financial free zone’s existing FinTech Hive accelerator and several other fintech initiatives including an innovation licence scheme and $100m fund to invest in start-ups.

Read: Dubai expands experimental licence scheme for fintechs

DIFC said they would focus on providing guidance and mentorship to support early stage start-ups during their incubation period.

The two will also seek to stimulate the regional venture capital ecosystem and attract more firms to DIFC, which currently has more than 1,853 actively registered companies.

“We continue to deliver on our promise to lead the development of a world-class fintech ecosystem in the region and provide an integrated platform for entrepreneurs, startups, and venture capital firms, to come together and create innovative solutions for the region through our collaboration with industry leaders like Startupbootcamp,” said DIFC Authority CEO Arif Amiri.

Startupbootcamp has invested in and accelerated more than 200 fintech and insurtech star-tups to date across existing programmes in London, New York, Singapore, Amsterdam, Mexico City and Mumbai.