British Participation in Dubai FinTech Accelerator Programme

Jane Lambert

The first 12-week accelerator programme of the Dubai FinTech Hive which I mentioned in FinTech in Dubai on 3 Aug started on 21 Aug 2017 with its first cohort. One of the members of that cohort is the Cardiff wealth management solutions provider, Delio Ltd ("Delio").

Delio was founded by Gareth Lewis and David Newman with the mission of building "!a connected, multi-asset class private market that enhances liquidity and access for today's high net worth investor" (see the About page on the Delio website). Its first product is "a complete white label platform solution for private assets, that helps organisations and their advisors enhance their offering through connecting private deal flow with high net worth capital."

The other members of the first cohort are Bridg and Sarwa from the United Arab Emirates, Labiba of Jordan, Maliyya of Azerbaijan, Middleware, Semantify and Starling Trust of the USA, Norbloc of Sweden, Theme Chain of India and Weinvest of Singapore (see FinTech Hive at DIFC commences Inaugural Accelerator Programme 21 Aug 2017). I wish Delio and all those companies every success in the programme and, in particular, on the Investor Day in November.

A British contribution will also come from Clyde & Co and Simmons & Simmons "who will offer advice on how to navigate the region’s legal landscape."

Delio and the other companies will find more legal resources on fintech on my FinTech page. They will also see that I cover IP and related matters in the GCC countries in NIPC Gulf. I have also started to blog about IP in the Severn estuary conurbation where Delio is based in NIPC Severn-Hafren (see Why NIPC Severn-Hafren 6 Aug 2017).

Anyone wishing to discuss this article or the legal issues of fintech generally should call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 during UK business hours or send me a message through my contact form.

See also 
Jane Lambert  FinTech in Dubai 3 Aug 2917

FinTech in Dubai

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Jane Lambert

On 10 Jan 2017, the Dubai International Financial Centre ("DIFC") launched the FinTech Hive which claims to be the first fintech accelerator in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia ("MEASA") region (see the DIFC press release "Dubai International Financial Centre Launches ‘FinTech Hive at DIFC’, the Region’s First FinTech Accelerator, Supported by Accenture" 10 Jan 2017). An "accelerator" is a development space for innovative young companies. According to the UK's National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts" an accelerator has the following characteristics:

• "Fixed duration programme (usually between three and twelve months) 
• Typically growth-based (payment via equity rather than fees) 
• Often provide seed funding 
• Focus on services over physical space
• Admission in cohorts 
• Provision of startup services (e.g. mentorship, entrepreneurial training) 
• Highly selective"

(see Business Incubators and Accelerators: The National Picture BEIS research paper No 7 by Jonathan Bone and others at page 13).

According to the Hive's website, it offers a 12-week accelerator programme where entrepreneurs have an opportunity to test and develop their innovation in collaboration with senior executives from financial institutions. On that programme they are promised:

• "Mentoring from the industry’s leading firms and senior financial services executives
• Insider knowledge and direct feedback from their target user groups
• Workshops and panel discussions on topics such as procurement, regulation and industry trends,
• Opportunities to raise their profile amongst potential partners and investors, and
• A workspace in DIFC for two employees throughout the programme."

In its press release of 30 May 2017, the DIFC reported that the Hive had received over 100 applications from more than 32 countries including the UAE, UK, US, India, Nigeria and Singapore covering big data and analytics, the blockchain, payments, peer to peer and crowdfunding, roboadvisors, and mobility. You can view one of the applications here.

As I said in my introduction to FinTech, it gives rise to at least three sets of legal issues:

• Privacy and data protecton;
• Intellectual property; and
• Regulation.

The DIFC has its own local laws based on the English common law which includes a data protection law which I discussed in DIFC Data Protection Law 1 Aug 2011. As for regulation, Neil Ainger, fintech correspondent at CNBC.com, has reported that the Dubai Financial Services Authority has created a regulatory sandbox ratjer like the Financial Conduct's Authority's in London (see Dubai fintechs invited to play in regulated innovation sandbox 25 May 2017 CNBC) and it has just announced a new regulaory framework for crowdfunding (see Dubai's DFSA launches crowdfunding framework 1 Aug 2017 Finextra).

You can follow the DIFC FinTech Hive on twitter, Facebook and Linkedin. Should you require more information about the FinTechn hive or fintech in general feel free to call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 or send me a message through my contact form.

Further Reading

Date	Author	Title	Publication
03 Aug 2017	Jane Lambert	FinTech	NIPC Law
03 Aug 2017	Jane Lambert	FinTech Glossary	NIPC Law