Imad Gharazeddine is the CEO, and a co-founder, of Mamo. The Dubai-based startup is behind Mamo Pay, a business finance platform that integrates everything from expenses to payroll for SMEs. “In the last 12 months, we have grown 500%,” he says.

Mamo’s story is far from isolated in the emirate. Put simply, FinTech is booming in Dubai. With a resolutely pro-digital government, explicitly aiming to become a top four financial hub – part of the GDP-doubling Dubai Economic Agenda, ‘D33’ – the sector’s star seems set to continue rising; drawing attention from international investors and institutions.

But why has the intersection of finance and tech taken such a hold in Dubai?

Space for experimentation

Part of Dubai’s appeal for FinTech entrepreneurs is that it is an especially receptive environment for experimentation.

The local population skews younger, making it quick to adopt digital innovations. At the same time, Manar Mahmassani, co-CEO and co-founder of Stake – an investment platform that enables fractional ownership of real estate – says the market is underpenetrated compared to the US and Europe, presenting a prime opportunity. And it’s easy to get started here.

Dubai’s free zones offer low taxation with 100% foreign ownership, alongside support with all a nascent company needs. Stake started in the DIFC FinTech Hive accelerator which offers everything from subsidies to workspace and mentorship.

“It feels like the City of London here, except there’s sunshine and things are just easier to get done.”

— Imad Gharazeddine, CEO and co-founder of Mamo

It also puts them in the same building as hundreds of their peers – and international institutions. “It feels like the City of London here,” says Mahmassani, “except there’s sunshine and things are just easier to get done.”

And being based in the DIFC puts them a door knock away from the emirate’s regulators, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) – invaluable for a disruptive startup.

Collaborative regulation

Mamo began in the DIFC’s Innovation Testing Licence (ITL) program, a regulatory sandbox that gives startups room to develop their product towards compliance within a supervised environment. The model is being extended under the ‘D33’ Sandbox initiative.

When a new technology doesn’t fit existing regulation, Dubai’s regulators “put out consultation papers which allows not just FinTechs, but all companies in the ecosystem to contribute towards what the regulation will look like,” explains Gharazeddine, offering the DIFC’s Digital Assets Law as an example.

Getting in front of emerging technology this way balances the need for startups to innovate against the customer protections and market certainty Mahmassani says are needed for “a stable environment that is conducive to more investment.”

And startups have a direct line to the regulator. Investing in property or properties worth 2 million AED ($545,000) is one path to a 10-year Golden Visa. Stake worked with the DIFC to extend eligibility to its users who hold 2 million AED across many different properties.

This progressive environment is a key reason Dubai’s FinTech sector has become a magnet for entrepreneurs – but there are many more besides.

FinTech magnetism

International backgrounds are typical of Dubai’s FinTech entrepreneurs. Gharazeddine graduated from McGill University and worked for Google in Canada before moving to Dubai. Mahmassani was born in Saudi, raised in Paris and Lebanon and then went to university in London.

The emirate’s talent pool is similarly globe-spanning, and startups can hire from anywhere. Between the ease of getting a visa, low taxation, the weather, and a lifestyle that’s “really, really good,” Gharazeddine says that “selling [people] on moving to Dubai is extremely easy.”

And it’s not just startups. Mahmassani points to multinationals like Revolut and Stripe coming to the emirate to gain a foothold in the region, alongside Wall Street institutions looking to keep pace with FinTech by partnering with – or acquiring – innovative startups.

Investors are increasingly coming from abroad, too. Gharazeddine describes a stream of top-tier international VCs coming to visit the emirate – especially from the US – alongside a “53% increase in family wealth initiatives,” often from overseas.

“Dubai is slowly positioning itself as the number one hub for FinTechs to get set up.”

— Imad Gharazeddine, CEO and co-founder of Mamo

For many, their first visit is at events like the Dubai FinTech Summit, which attracts more than 8,000 C-Suite leaders from over 100 countries for networking, discussion and talks from blue-chip CEOs and government ministers.

It’s an opportunity for financiers to discover the opportunities in Dubai, connect with others in the global sector, and for the emirate’s startups to make cross-border connections.

“The number one hub for FinTechs”

The model works. Stake has users in more than 180 countries, who have collectively completed $130 million in property transactions. Mamo recently became a Visa Principal Member.

Gharazeddine predicts the ecosystem will continue to grow. “Dubai is slowly positioning itself as the number one hub for FinTechs to get set up,” he says. Mahmassani agrees, recommending entrepreneurs fly over and “see for themselves how impressive what they’ve built here is.”