10 Leaves

Part4 of 4 Join us for an engaging discussion with Sameer Sortur, Regional Director, Founder Institute and Sathish Jeyakumar, Founder - Veehive.ai. We speak on the Blockchain Trilemma, and how to address the relationship between decentralization, scalability and security while designing blockchain models. You can also watch this episode here. Read up more on  DIFC Innovation Licenses , and ge...

Part 3 of 4 Join us for an engaging discussion with Sameer Sortur, Regional Director, Founder Institute and Sathish Jeyakumar, Founder - Veehive.ai. We speak on the Blockchain Trilemma, and how to address the relationship between decentralization, scalability and security while designing blockchain models. You can also watch this episode here. Read up more on  DIFC Innovation Licenses , and g...

Part 2 of 4 Join us for an engaging discussion with Sameer Sortur, Regional Director, Founder Institute and Sathish Jeyakumar, Founder - Veehive.ai. We speak on the Blockchain Trilemma, and how to address the relationship between decentralization, scalability and security while designing blockchain models. You can also watch this episode here. Read up more on  DIFC Innovation Licenses , and g...

Part 1 of 4 Join us for an engaging discussion with Sameer Sortur, Regional Director, Founder Institute and Sathish Jeyakumar, Founder - Veehive.ai. We speak on the Blockchain Trilemma, and how to address the relationship between decentralization, scalability and security while designing blockchain models. Read up more on  DIFC Innovation Licenses , and get in touch to be part of the UAE’s pr...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/difc/vc-fund-marketing-and-distribution The UAE has three jurisdictions of consequence, when it comes to marketing and promotion of investment funds. There are two financial free zones – the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), which is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and the Abu Dhab...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/difc/economics-of-a-vc-fund Of course, it is about the money! The economics of venture capital funds differ, based on a variety of factors. The most important one being the expertise and track record of the fund manager, based on the number and quality of the deals that have been closed and exited. It also depends on t...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/difc/venture-capital-fund-lifecycle Venture capital funds typically have long tenures, beginning the first closing and running for 8-10 years. Fund managers usually seek pre-determined extension periods (2-3 years for example) to allow them for a smooth exit from all investments. Early termination is also possible, bas...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/difc/vc-fund-structures-in-uae-vc-fund-formation-vehicles C funds are typically structured as closed-end investment vehicles. The fund’s prospectus permits it to raise capital commitments during a limited period, that usually ranges from 6 to 18 months. The fund then ‘closes’, that is, does not accept any further inves...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/difc/private-venture-capital-funds Private funds are collective investment schemes, formed by investment professionals (called fund managers ), who seek to raise capital to make multiple investments in a specified industry sector or geographic region. These funds are marketed to qualified or professional investors – mo...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/difc/vc-fund-formation-in-the-uae-vc-fund-formation-introduction Venture Capital is a relatively new term in the GCC region. While the past five years have seen accelerated progress, generally speaking, access to alternate sources of capital – be it angel, seed, VC or Private Equity, has proved to be more difficult tha...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/difc/difc-compliance-officer-and-work-from-home-considerations The concept of working from home (WFH) is not a new. Prior to the pandemic, nearly 40% of businesses in the United States and Europe offered some sort of remote work schedules to employees. However, these schedules were more an incentive, rather than the no...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/difc/compliance-support-services-for-difc-authorised-firms What are compliance support services? The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) is the regulator of DIFC financial service firms. It authorizes and supervises financial entities that conduct activities across five licensed categories. The DFSA mandates thre...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/difc/difc-compliance-services-outsourcing-benefits What are the benefits of outsourcing the compliance function? The comparison between in-house and outsourced compliance options follows the same reasoning as for any outsourcing option. Here are some factors that can help you decide. Cost: The cost of hiring a full-tim...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/difc/outsourcing-compliance-services-in-difc Does the DFSA allow compliance outsourcing? Yes, the DFSA does allow outsourcing of core functions such as Compliance, MLRO and Finance. However, the DFSA does consider the type of financial service, the projected volume of business, additional endorsements (such as endorsem...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/difc/difc-compliance How important is the compliance function? The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) is the regulator of DIFC financial service firms. It authorizes and supervises financial entities that conduct activities across five licensed categories. The DFSA mandates three (and in some cases, four) mandat...

Part 5 of 5 Join us for an engaging discussion with Derek Watson from N2 Technology, and Bishr Shiblaq, LLM, CIFD. We speak on being investment-ready and preparing for the due-diligence questions that investors usually ask. Also featured is a panel discussion with Egor Romanyuk, an early-stage investor, in which he speaks about how he decides which startups to invest in. For startups, and VCs, and...

Part 4 of 5 Join us for an engaging discussion with Derek Watson from N2 Technology, and Bishr Shiblaq, LLM, CIFD. We speak on being investment-ready and preparing for the due-diligence questions that investors usually ask. Also featured is a panel discussion with Egor Romanyuk, an early-stage investor, in which he speaks about how he decides which startups to invest in. For startups, and VCs, and...

Part 3 of 5 Join us for an engaging discussion with Derek Watson from N2 Technology, and Bishr Shiblaq, LLM, CIFD. We speak on being investment-ready and preparing for the due-diligence questions that investors usually ask. Also featured is a panel discussion with Egor Romanyuk, an early-stage investor, in which he speaks about how he decides which startups to invest in. For startups, and VCs, and...

Part 2 of 5 Join us for an engaging discussion with Derek Watson from N2 Technology, and Bishr Shiblaq, LLM, CIFD. We speak on being investment-ready and preparing for the due-diligence questions that investors usually ask. Also featured is a panel discussion with Egor Romanyuk, an early-stage investor, in which he speaks about how he decides which startups to invest in. For startups, and VCs, and...

Part 1 of 5 Join us for an engaging discussion with Derek Watson from N2 Technology, and Bishr Shiblaq, LLM, CIFD. We speak on being investment-ready and preparing for the due-diligence questions that investors usually ask. Also featured is a panel discussion with Egor Romanyuk, an early-stage investor, in which he speaks about how he decides which startups to invest in. For startups, and VCs, and...

Part 4 of 4 You can also view this episode on You Tube - https://youtu.be/PKSwMsWVzt4 Join me for an engaging discussion with Bishr Shiblaq, LLM, CIFD and Derek Watson from the pioneering N2 Technology on setting up in the DIFC Innovation Hub and being part of an ecosystem that does so much more than just provide a license and a fantastic place to do business... For startups, and VCs, and everythi...

Part 3 of 4 You can also view this episode on You Tube - https://youtu.be/PKSwMsWVzt4 Join me for an engaging discussion with Bishr Shiblaq, LLM, CIFD and Derek Watson from the pioneering N2 Technology on setting up in the DIFC Innovation Hub and being part of an ecosystem that does so much more than just provide a license and a fantastic place to do business... For startups, and VCs, and everythi...

Part 2 of 4 You can also view this episode on You Tube - https://youtu.be/PKSwMsWVzt4 Join me for an engaging discussion with Bishr Shiblaq, LLM, CIFD and Derek Watson from the pioneering N2 Technology on setting up in the DIFC Innovation Hub and being part of an ecosystem that does so much more than just provide a license and a fantastic place to do business... For startups, and VCs, and everythi...

Part 1 of 4 You can also view this episode on You Tube - https://youtu.be/PKSwMsWVzt4 Join me for an engaging discussion with Bishr Shiblaq, LLM, CIFD and Derek Watson from the pioneering N2 Technology on setting up in the DIFC Innovation Hub and being part of an ecosystem that does so much more than just provide a license and a fantastic place to do business... For startups, and VCs, and everythi...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://10leaves.ae/publications/difc/difc-digital-investment-management-robo-advisory-license The DIFC has provisions for both regulated and non-regulated fintech in the Innovation Hub. While they have issued detailed guidelines on Money Services Businesses, there is no such explicit guidance on Robo Advisory licenses. What are Robo-Advisors? Robo-ad...