SC Ventures and Emirates NBD announce MoU to explore strategic innovation in MENA - Middle East Business News and Information
The strategic partnership seeks to create innovation initiatives within the region in financial services
Memorandum of Understanding was signed at Dubai FinTech Summit by SC Ventures and Emirates NBD
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, May 2025: SC Ventures, the innovation, FinTech investment, and venture-building arm of Standard Chartered, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye (MENAT) region, to explore strategic opportunities for collaboration.
The collaboration outlines the intent of both parties to jointly explore innovation-led initiatives, support ventures in the Middle East and North Africa region, explore investment opportunities, tapping into their respective portfolios, capabilities and market insights. The partnership will focus on identifying synergies across digital innovation, strategic partnerships and venture co-creation in financial services.
'SC Ventures was founded on the vision of rewiring the DNA of banking and building an ecosystem to support this goal. The MoU with Emirates NBD brings together two forward-looking institutions with a shared ambition to accelerate innovation and unlock new value in the MENA region,' said Gautam Jain, Operating Member, SC Ventures.
Neeraj Makin, Group Head of Strategy, Analytics, and Venture Capital at Emirates NBD, said: 'Innovation is a cornerstone of everything we do at Emirates NBD. This partnership with SC Ventures directly meets our goal of driving innovation in banking and strengthening our commitment to transform the landscape by creating new opportunities for growth in financial services in the region. This will lead to smarter, intuitive and secure banking experiences for our customers.'
The initiative announced at Dubai FinTech Summit also reflects the UAE's growing role as a global hub for financial innovation and its commitment to fostering collaboration within the sector to shape the future of banking and financial services in the region. By bringing together two institutions with a strong track record of innovation and market leadership, the MoU aims to catalyse meaningful progress in digital transformation and regional FinTech development.
About SC Ventures:
SC Ventures is a business unit that provides a platform and catalyst for Standard Chartered to promote innovation, invest in disruptive financial technology and explore alternative business models.
About Emirates NBD:
Emirates NBD (DFM: Emirates NBD) is a leading banking group in the MENAT (Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye) region with a presence in 13 countries, serving over 9 million active customers. As of 31st March 2025, total assets were AED 1 trillion, (equivalent to approx. USD 272 billion). The Group has operations in the UAE, Egypt, India, Türkiye, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Russia and Bahrain and representative offices in China and Indonesia with a total of 839 branches and 4,539 ATMs / SDMs. Emirates NBD is the leading financial services brand in the UAE with a Brand value of USD 4.54 billion.
Emirates NBD Group serves its customers (individuals, businesses, governments, and institutions) and helps them realise their financial objectives through a range of banking products and services including retail banking, corporate and institutional banking, Islamic banking, investment banking, private banking, asset management, global markets and treasury, and brokerage operations. The Group is a key participant in the global digital banking industry with 97% of all financial transactions and requests conducted outside of its branches. The Group also operates Liv, the lifestyle digital bank by Emirates NBD, with close to half a million users, it continues to be the fastest-growing bank in the region.
Emirates NBD contributes to the construction of a sustainable future as an active participant and supporter of the UAE's main development and sustainability initiatives, including financial wellness and the inclusion of people of determination. Emirates NBD is committed to supporting the UAE's Year of Sustainability as Principal Banking Partner of COP28 and an early supporter to the Dubai Can sustainability initiative, a city-wide initiative aimed to reduce use of single-use plastic bottled water.
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