ADIO signs new partnerships for its AED 2 billion innovation programme

ADIO has signed new partnerships for its AED 2 billion innovation programme. As part of its AED 2 billion (USD 545 million) Innovation Programme, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) announced individual collaborations with financial services company Peninsula Real Estate and enterprise software provider Eureka. ADIO will give financial and non-financial incentives to assist each company’s growth in Abu Dhabi as part of the agreement.

The collaborations will help Peninsula and Eureka create and implement market-leading capabilities and technology in their respective disciplines, as well as build expert skills that will help Abu Dhabi’s knowledge economy grow. The addition of investment analysts, asset managers, and data scientists to the emirate’s innovation ecosystem boosts the pool of expertise in the financial services and information and communications technology (ICT) industries.

Markus Thomas, Head of Investments at ADIO, said: “As Abu Dhabi progresses toward a knowledge-based economy, we are prioritising the development of human capital to drive innovation and ideas. Both Peninsula and Eureka are building impressive organisations based on innovative technology, business models and are driven by expert teams. Attracting such talent to the emirate enhances the real estate and data analytics sector capabilities and sends a clear message of what can be expected from Abu Dhabi in terms of best-in-class businesses. ADIO will continue to partner with innovation-driven companies to help them reach the next stage of their growth journeys in Abu Dhabi and beyond.”

Peninsula, a real estate investment firm, uses quantitative macro and micro research to create a platform for international institutional capital to have better access to GCC real estate markets. Through rapid price discovery, the liquidity solution aids in the repricing of regional real estate risk.

Peninsula can extend its capabilities from its investment, research, and operations headquarters in the Abu Dhabi Global Market thanks to ADIO’s Innovation Program support (ADGM). Peninsula and ADIO will also collaborate to enhance Abu Dhabi’s financial services and real estate sectors through an internship and academic engagement programme aimed at deepening real estate and financial services industry knowledge.

James Gallon, CEO and Co-founder of Peninsula, said, “At Peninsula, we deploy thought-leading research on the impact of liquidity and governance to address the pricing of risk of real assets. We are working with real estate asset owners in Abu Dhabi and the wider GCC region to optimise and unlock asset value through an innovative liquidity solution. We chose ADGM as the location for our headquarters, due to its status as a dynamic global financial hub with a strong emphasis on innovation. We are delighted to have the strong support of ADIO as Peninsula continues to expand its partnerships across the UAE and beyond.”

Eureka, an enterprise software startup, enables businesses to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to huge external and internal data sources, combining them to generate intelligence at scale. Eureka’s financial intelligence tools use telecom and alternative data, as well as open banking and transaction data, to provide credit and risk scoring. Omni, Eureka’s market intelligence offering, has the country’s largest ongoing market research panel. These products are powered by Eureka’s DS2 Feature Store and ML Ops platforms, which give data scientists with the tools they need to deploy machine learning at scale.

Eureka will establish its technological R&D and operational headquarters in Abu Dhabi as part of its relationship with ADIO. Eureka’s senior leadership team, data scientists, and engineers will relocate to Abu Dhabi, where they will work to expand their UAE presence and manage their global customer base.

Benjamin Soemartopo, CEO of Eureka, said: “As a global company operating across Asia, Middle East, Africa and the US, Abu Dhabi provides a central location and convenient time zone for us to operate 24×7. Abu Dhabi has shown a strong commitment to the development of an ecosystem of deep technology and R&D. Furthermore, the UAE’s quality of life and management of the pandemic has given us confidence that we are establishing our headquarters in a supportive environment for our current team and as we expand.”

Through globally competitive cash incentives, ADIO’s Innovation Program encourages new and innovative ideas. It focuses on early-stage and innovation-led businesses in high-growth industries such as financial services, ICT, health services and biopharma, agriculture technology, ecotourism, and more.