SC Ventures Opens Office in Abu Dhabi to Enhance Presence in the Region

SC Ventures, the innovation and investment arm of Standard Chartered Bank, has announced its plans to open a new office in the global market of Abu Dhabi.

The aim is to leverage technology and business innovations, along with building projects and accessing capabilities and talents in the region.

Gautam Jain, a board member, will be leading the new office in Abu Dhabi.

This announcement comes after the partnership between SC Ventures and SBi Holdings, a Japanese financial group, to establish a joint investment company for digital assets in the UAE.

Gotham Jain, a board member at S C Ventures, highlighted that the global technology system in the United Arab Emirates has witnessed a growth of 134% in the value of the technological system, making it the sixth fastest-growing in the world and the largest in the Middle East and North Africa region.

He added, “We believe that the region has strong potential to improve banking services through its exceptional talents and capabilities in project building, investment facilitation, particularly in the areas of financial technology, digital assets, and data.”

He confirmed that managed assets in the global Abu Dhabi market grew by 52% in the third quarter of 2023, reaching 4.5 trillion dollars, which enhanced the reputation of the global Abu Dhabi market as a leading financial center.

Jain further stated, “We look forward to benefiting from the innovative community in the region as we continue to enhance our banking services to provide the best service to our customers and the community.”

On his part, Arvind Rama Moorthy, Head of Market Development at the global Abu Dhabi market, expressed his joy in seeing more global financial institutions choose the global Abu Dhabi market and Abu Dhabi as their headquarters to develop their businesses and achieve growth in the region.

He welcomed S C Ventures’ joining, expressing his anticipation to see its positive contributions to the financial system and the wider community, including Hub 71 and the venture capital community in the global Abu Dhabi market and beyond, which continues to grow and expand its business scope and service offerings.

The office in the global Abu Dhabi market will focus on four main topics for S C Ventures, namely: the digital economy and digital methods by supporting digital methods for new economies through providing alternative business models; digital assets by leveraging emerging technologies to create a strong and secure infrastructure for digital assets; small and medium enterprises and global trade by ensuring the inclusion of small and medium enterprises in the economy and global trade through access to financial systems; and sustainability and inclusiveness by integrating sustainability and financial inclusion into new business models.

Alex Manson, CEO of SC Ventures, highlighted Abu Dhabi Global Market as a leading innovation hub, where the United Arab Emirates is working towards building an advanced system that supports the growth of over 8,000 small and medium-sized enterprises and startups by 2030.

The goal is to create 20 start-ups worth over one billion US dollars by 2031 as part of their national entrepreneurship initiative. Manson added, “We are excited to join this system and hope to contribute our expertise and capabilities in enhancing banking and financial services in the region.”