Emirates NBD, in collaboration with the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) Fintech Hive and Microsoft, is set to launch an accelerator program for Metaverse startups.
To make UAE NBD’s initial play in the metaverse, the accelerator program in cooperation with the Dubai Metaverse Strategy wished to back over 40,000 virtual jobs by 2030, and add $4 billion to the country’s economy in five years.
Emirates NBD is looking for leading fintech’s, digital experience start-ups and emerging technology players operating across the metaverse landscape to strengthen their immersion in the virtual world in three important areas: creating the technology stacks to facilitate the transition to 3D, making virtual worlds to augment the customer experience in the Metaverse and allowing a decentralized payment setup for customers to generate, monetize, purchase and sell digital assets and services.
During a ten-week acceleration program, the DIFC Fintech Hive will valuate and pair the UAE NBD with startups that have proposals on the value creation, experience and technology stack needed for the metaverse. This will end in a meeting day where the shortlisted contestants present their ideas to the bank.
Miguel Rio Tinto, Group Chief Executive Officer at Emirates NBD says: “While a bank that has regularly been at the head of embracing developing technologies, we notice special opportunity areas to redefine financial services, involving virtualizing interactions with customers and offering financial services to the creator economy by enabling new products and marketplaces. With the back of DIFC FinTech Hive and Microsoft, UAE NBD is eager to become a launchpad of creative financial services in the metaverse, and play an essential role in creating new experiences for our customers with creative startups from around the world. “
The UAE NBD initiative follows Italian banking group, Sella, that in June released a program to accelerate finance-focused startups in the virtual economy.
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