As geopolitical volatility reshapes where global capital goes, the Gulf is increasingly being treated not just as a market to invest in, but as a platform from which global businesses are built. Mohamed Fairooz, Middle East lead at SC Ventures, the venture-building arm of Standard Chartered, spoke to Gulf Business about why the region is drawing capital into digital assets, tokenisation and financial infrastructure, and why the next chapter is less about funding startups than building globally relevant companies.
From stablecoins and programmable money to the convergence of AI and finance, Fairooz lays out where the real opportunities lie, and why trust, governance and execution will decide who wins.
The Middle East has experienced significant geopolitical volatility in recent years. How is this reshaping investment flows into the Gulf?
The Gulf is increasingly emerging as a platform from which global businesses are built.
While geopolitical volatility has made investors more selective, it has also increased the appeal of markets that offer increasingly clear regulatory frameworks, policy continuity, and long-term growth ambitions – the Gulf is one example of such a market. What makes the Gulf different is that innovation is not driven purely by venture cycles; it has become part of national economic strategies. As a result, capital is increasingly flowing towards areas aligned with those priorities, from digital assets and AI to financial infrastructure and trade enablement.
Investors are also looking beyond returns. They are asking who regulates the infrastructure, where it sits, and whether it can scale sustainably. Trust and strong governance are becoming Important competitive differentiators. That is creating demand for institutionally backed platforms capable of helping address real-world problems. At SC Ventures, we see our role as building and scaling those businesses, combining entrepreneurial agility with the governance and credibility of a global bank.
The UAE has emerged as a leading hub for digital assets and financial innovation. What factors are driving this momentum?
The UAE’s momentum has been driven by its move from talking about innovation and instead has started building around it.
Regulatory clarity, policy ambition, and execution have given institutions the confidence to commit capital and build for the long term. While many markets are still defining frameworks, the UAE has focused on creating an environment where innovation can move from experimentation to commercial reality.
What’s particularly compelling is that digital assets sit within a much broader economic vision. The government’s ambition to significantly increase the digital economy’s contribution to GDP demonstrates a long-term commitment to innovation-led growth.
The next chapter is likely to be defined by infrastructure: custody, settlement, tokenisation, and trusted market rails and by creating globally relevant ventures from the region. This is reflected in the decision by several businesses across the SCV portfolio to establish a presence in the UAE.
As traditional financial institutions increasingly explore blockchain-based solutions, where do you see the biggest opportunities?
A real opportunity is rebuilding financial infrastructure for a digital economy.
For decades, financial systems have operated through layers of intermediaries, reconciliation processes, and settlement delays. Blockchain technology creates an opportunity to move value with a level of efficiency and programmability that is much closer to the way that information moves today. Across SC Ventures’ portfolio, we support businesses developing institutional-grade digital assets infrastructure.
More specifically, there are real opportunities in three key areas. Firstly, if we were to consider payments, then stablecoins have the potential to improve payments and cross-border settlement by enabling 24/7 and near-instant remittances. Secondly, tokenisation can improve liquidity in certain assets that have historically been difficult to access or transfer. Thirdly, institutional-grade custody and market infrastructure could provide institutions with the confidence to explore l and participate in digital asset markets at scale.
Ultimately, the long-term impact of blockchain will be measured less by digital asset trading volumes and more by how effectively it modernises the underlying plumbing of financial services.
Stablecoins are gaining traction as a foundation for next-generation payments. What role will they play in the region?
Stablecoins are increasingly evolving from a crypto use case.
The Gulf is uniquely positioned to benefit because it sits at the intersection of global trade, remittance flows, and cross-border commerce. Stablecoins can significantly improve how money moves across those networks by reducing costs, shortening settlement times, and increasing transparency.
Globally, most stablecoin activity remains tied to the US dollar, but the emergence of regional currency-backed stablecoins creates an opportunity to build more localised payment ecosystems. The UAE has already introduced initiatives in this area through regulatory progress and real-world deployment.
As adoption grows, institutional-grade infrastructure becomes crucial.
Which sectors or asset classes will see the greatest impact from tokenisation?
Tokenisation has the potential to become one of the most significant technological upgrades to financial markets in decades.
Early adoption across asset classes such as money market funds, deposits, bonds, and the real estate sector is likely, as these are asset classes and sectors where the benefits around efficiency, liquidity, and accessibility are the clearest.
Over time, the real challenge will be creating the legal frameworks, liquidity, and market confidence that allow tokenised assets to scale sustainably.
This mirrors the evolution of the Gulf venture ecosystem itself. The region has demonstrated that it can build companies and attract capital. The next proof point is creating durable businesses, repeatable value creation, and meaningful exits.
What are the key ingredients needed to create globally significant businesses from the region?
The region has demonstrated that it can attract capital. The next challenge is execution.
The Middle East has many of the key ingredients required to build globally relevant companies: ambitious founders, deep pools of capital, supportive regulation, and increasingly sophisticated talent. What matters now is turning those advantages into sustainable enterprise value.
Global businesses are not built on funding alone. They require patient capital, strong governance, access to customers, and the credibility to expand internationally. They also require builders who remain involved long after the initial investment.
The Middle East is moving from an ecosystem focused on startup creation to one focused on company creation. At SC Ventures, we believe venture building—not just venture investing—will determine which businesses ultimately achieve global scale.
What opportunities in the Middle East’s fintech and digital economy ecosystem excite you the most today?
The convergence of artificial intelligence and programmable money could redefine how commerce itself operates.
As stablecoins, tokenised assets, and digital payment systems mature, value will be able to move more freely across the economy. At the same time, advances in AI are creating a future where software can increasingly transact on behalf of individuals and businesses.
We are equally excited about the growth of the infrastructure layer—custody, settlement, compliance, and tokenisation. These businesses may not always attract headlines, but they are the foundations that enable institutional adoption and long-term ecosystem growth.
For SC Ventures, the opportunity lies in building the ventures that transform these structural trends into real-world products and commercial outcomes.
Looking ahead over the next five years, what trends will have the biggest impact on the future of finance?
The defining trend of the next decade is likely to be the convergence of programmable money, digital assets, and artificial intelligence.
As financial assets become tokenised and payments become instant, money itself becomes programmable—capable of moving, settling, and interacting with digital systems in real time. At the same time, we expect AI-powered agents to increasingly participate in economic activity on behalf of businesses and individuals.
We believe the Gulf is well positioned to lead this transition because it combines ambitious national strategies, progressive regulation, institutional capital, and a willingness to embrace innovation.
The first chapter of the region’s story was about building an ecosystem. The next chapter is about building globally relevant companies and financial infrastructure that shape how the world transacts and creates value. At SC Ventures, that is exactly where we are focused—building, investing in, and scaling the ventures that will help define the future of finance.
