DIFC FinTech Hive, part of Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), has signed a landmark agreement with Israel’s FinTech-Aviv, Emirates News Agency reported Saturday.
FinTech Aviv was established in 2014 and serves the needs of the Israeli FinTech ecosystem and counts more than 6,000 startups and 300 research and development centers as members, it said.
The agreement is the first of its kind for the UAE and Israel, and strengthens DIFC’s position as MEASA’s number one FinTech hub and one of the world’s top 10 FinTech hubs.
The agreement announced will enable DIFC to further support the UAE in facilitating economic growth from the technology and innovation sectors.
Both parties will work together on events, knowledge sharing, talent development and facilitating mutual introductions and referrals for firms keen to expand in each respective jurisdictions.
More than 50 percent of all FinTech businesses in the GCC now operate from DIFC. The first half of 2020 witnessed DIFC FinTech Hive triple in size with the opening of a larger space in Gate Avenue supporting start-ups, scale-ups and entrepreneurs.
"Like Dubai, Israel is well regarded for its approach to innovation and embracing FinTech so it is important to collaborate now to share knowledge and develop the sector further. We are pleased to have partnered with FinTech-Aviv as we can achieve great things together. DIFC is now home to more than 240 FinTech related firms and the opportunities for growth are endless,” WAM quoted Executive Vice President of DIFC FinTech Hive Raja Al Mazrouei as saying.
"In this unprecedented time, we’re honored to initiate this unique collaboration in order to facilitate the export of Israeli technologies to new markets,” said Nir Netzer, the Chairman of FinTech-Aviv.
"The FinTech-Aviv community and its 30,000+ Israeli and worldwide members, proudly hold the torch of this exciting initiative and are humbled to be leading Israeli FinTech companies towards the exploration of new horizons with our new business partners,” he added.
