Robo advisory start-up WeInvest opens Dubai office

Singapore-based fintech start-up WeInvest has announced the opening of an office in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)

The company said its entry into the UAE came after it was selected for the inaugural FinTech Hive accelerator programme in DIFC last year.

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It has also expanded into Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

WeInvest is a platform-as-a-service provider operating in the robo advisory space. Its clients include banks, wealth and asset managers, insurance companies and financial advisors.

The opening of the Dubai office is linked to growing relationships with financial institutions in the UAE, according to the firm.

“The expansion into the UAE is timely with the region opening up to more business opportunities. Furthermore, in the realm of wealth management, we believe robo-advisory solutions for the financial institutions will serve the wealth market with due diligence,” said CEO and co-founder Bhaskar Prabhakara.

“Financial Institutions in the UAE today recognise the significance of disruptive solutions and are innovating at a great speed.”

WeInvest recently secured $12.2m of Series A funding from Schroders and announced a partnership with Singapore-based OCBC bank and CGS-CIMB Securities to provide its robo-advisory platforms for their clients.

The 2017 DIFC Wealth and Asset Management report found fund managers in the UAE were  expected to see their assets under management grow from $1.6bn in 2016 to $18.9bn in 2020.