Plug and Play ADGM Announces First Five Corporate Partners and Seven Startups to Join Fintech Innovation Platform in Abu Dhabi

Plug and Play, the largest global innovation platform, and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the leading international financial centre based in Abu Dhabi, today announced BNP Paribas, Boubyan Bank, Finablr Group (whose portfolio of network brands include among others “UAE Exchange”), First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), and Riyad Bank as the first five corporate partners to join the Plug and Play ADGM Fintech Innovation Platform based in Abu Dhabi. These new corporate partners will join Plug and Play’s global ecosystem, with over 80 financial institutions across Silicon Valley, New York, Tokyo, Paris, and Frankfurt, while also leveraging the platform to support their larger innovation strategy.

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The seven Fintech startups that have been selected to participate in Plug and Play ADGM’s three-month accelerator will have the opportunity to work alongside the financial institutions for a possibility to execute POC or pilot projects. There is no cost for the startups to be in the program and they will remain part of the ecosystem post-graduation.

“Over the next year, we hope to facilitate engaging relationships between our new financial partners and startups in the program. Our goal is to help support our partners achieve their innovation goals on a global scale,” said Omeed Mehrinfar, Managing Partner EMEA, Plug and Play.

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Plug and Play ADGM has also partnered with K&L Gates to provide legal support for startups who plan to scale in the Middle Eastern region as well as Amazon Web Services to help startups build sophisticated applications to help scale and grow their businesses.

“Plug and Play is the world’s most active technology venture capital fund and one of the most successful startup accelerators. We are excited with achievements made by the Plug and Play ADGM team in a mere four months and we look forward to supporting their growth aspirations. We are confident that the first five corporate partners will be able to further advance their innovation capabilities and competitive advantages by working closely with Plug and Play ADGM. As an IFC, we will continue to enhance our Fintech ecosystem and regulatory framework to support the growth of financial institutions, Fintech firms, and the startup community,” said Richard Teng, CEO, Financial Services Regulatory Authority of ADGM.

The Plug and Play ADGM program will begin on September 16th, 2018 with the selected startups residing at ADGM’s co-working space in Abu Dhabi.

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