Latest news with #Ramamurthy
Straits Times
10-06-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Abu Dhabi expects more rapid growth for its financial centre
LONDON - The rush of financial firms setting up in Abu Dhabi to tap the oil-rich emirate's wealth funds and Middle East markets will continue at pace, the official in charge of expanding its financial hub has predicted. Abu Dhabi, which holds 90% of UAE's oil reserves, has accelerated efforts to diversify its economy, leaning on its vast sovereign funds that together manage almost $2 trillion of capital. Abu Dhabi Global Markets still lags Dubai, but the number of firms registered in the centre rose by 32% last year, and the amount of assets managed by firms there grew 245%, as the likes of BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, AXA, PGIM and hedge fund Marshall Wace all set up or registered funds there. Earlier on Tuesday, Harrison Street, a U.S. firm focused on alternative real estate assets with about $56 billion in assets under management, said it was opening an office in Abu Dhabi. The centre reported last week that new operating licences increased 67% in the first quarter of this year taking the total number of firms there past 2,380. "We still have very strong growth," ADGM's Chief Market Development Officer, Arvind Ramamurthy said, noting that the pipeline of new firms looked strong for the rest of the year, but refrained from giving a forecast for assets growth. "Will it be 245% again this year? I wish. Let's see," he said in an interview late on Monday. Firms from Japan, India and China are also setting up in growing numbers - asset managers and financial institutions but also crypto and artificial intelligence firms, Ramamurthy said providing any details. With cryptocurrency regulations in place since 2018, Abu Dhabi has become a major centre for such investment, with sector heavyweights such as Circle and Coinbase represented there, while Abu Dhabi-backed investment group MGX has recently invested $2 billion worth of crypto tokens - issued by U.S. President Donald Trump's World Liberty Financial venture - in the world's biggest crypto exchange, Binance. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Al Etihad
21-05-2025
- Business
- Al Etihad
Bitcoin Suisse to commence operations in Abu Dhabi
22 May 2025 01:24 ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)Bitcoin Suisse, Switzerland's premier crypto financial services provider, is about to commence its operations in Abu Dhabi. In a statement, the company said its subsidiary, BTCS (Middle East) Ltd., has received In-Principle Approval (IPA) from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).The approval enables Bitcoin Suisse to move closer to offering fully regulated crypto financial services in ADGM's internationally recognised regulatory environment. The firm intends to provide services including trading of virtual assets, crypto securities and derivatives, as well as local custody solutions for both private and institutional clients."This milestone represents a significant step forward in Bitcoin Suisse's strategic expansion, reinforcing its commitment to regulatory compliance, financial innovation, and global growth," the statement Majcen, Head of Global Expansion and designated Senior Executive Officer of BTCS (Middle East) Ltd., said, "The IPA reflects our strong commitment to maintaining the highest standards of transparency, security, and regulatory compliance. Abu Dhabi, one of the Middle East's fastest-growing financial centres, presents a compelling opportunity for growth. We look forward to working closely with the FSRA to obtain our full licence."Bitcoin Suisse has earned a reputation as a trusted and compliant crypto financial services provider. With more than $6 billion (Dh22.2 billion) in assets under custody and $2.6 billion (Dh8.9 billion) in institutional staking services, the firm ranks among the world's largest custodians and staking platforms. Its service model is known for its precision, security, and client-centric approach, built over a decade of Swiss-based Ramamurthy, Chief of Market Development at ADGM, welcomed the development, "ADGM congratulates Bitcoin Suisse on receiving its IPA from the FSRA of ADGM. Their expansion plans to the region to provide regulated crypto financial services within the international financial centre is a testament to the immense opportunities available within Abu Dhabi. We look forward to Bitcoin Suisse receiving their Financial Services Permission (FSP) and their contribution to ADGM's dynamic ecosystem." "By entering ADGM, Bitcoin Suisse plans to leverage the UAE's progressive and globally acknowledged virtual asset framework to enhance its regulated service offerings," the statement said. Source: Aletihad - Abu Dhabi
Economic Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Aarthi Ramamurthy launches VC firm Schema Ventures with first fund of $20 million
Getty Images Aarthi Ramamurthy at the INSIDE THE AI REVOLUTION: RISK, REWARDS AND NEW WAYS OF WORKING talk at the Fortune Most Powerful Women International Summit Riyadh 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo byfor Fortune Media) Silicon Valley technologist and media personality Aarthi Ramamurthy on Wednesday launched her venture capital firm, Schema Ventures, with a $20 million fund. The fund will back early-stage startups founded by "exceptional outsider founders", Ramamurthy said in posts on LinkedIn and X. "I grew up an outsider. I moved to San Francisco, built two startups. My story — figuring it out without a roadmap — is the blueprint for Schema," the post read. Schema will focus on the earliest stages of a company in various fields, including industrial software, robots and intelligence for factories, construction and logistics, workflow intelligence and developer who has previously headed product and tech teams at Microsoft, Netflix and Meta, said her fund will back outsiders who build from lived experience, not "pedigree or proximity". "Sometimes there's no pitch deck yet, no co-founder, no capital — just conviction and technical insight. That's where we come in," she said. The entrepreneur became a media personality in 2020, when she launched a Clubhouse show with her husband Sriram Krishnan, former Andreessen Horowitz general partner and current White House senior AI policy advisor. The show, titled 'The Good Time Show', featured organic conversations about startups, venture capitalism, and cryptocurrencies. It had high-profile guests like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. The show later transitioned to YouTube and evolved into 'The Aarthi and Sriram Show', which secured a podcasting deal with iHeartMedia and amassed over a million downloads by early 2023.
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Aarthi Ramamurthy launches VC firm Schema Ventures with first fund of $20 million
Silicon Valley technologist and media personality Aarthi Ramamurthy on Wednesday launched her venture capital firm, Schema Ventures , with a $20 million fund. The fund will back early-stage startups founded by "exceptional outsider founders ", Ramamurthy said in posts on LinkedIn and X. "I grew up an outsider. I moved to San Francisco, built two startups. My story — figuring it out without a roadmap — is the blueprint for Schema," the post read. — aarthir (@aarthir) Schema will focus on the earliest stages of a company in various fields, including industrial software, robots and intelligence for factories, construction and logistics, workflow intelligence and developer tools. Ramamurthy, who has previously headed product and tech teams at Microsoft, Netflix and Meta, said her fund will back outsiders who build from lived experience, not "pedigree or proximity". "Sometimes there's no pitch deck yet, no co-founder, no capital — just conviction and technical insight. That's where we come in," she said. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories The entrepreneur became a media personality in 2020, when she launched a Clubhouse show with her husband Sriram Krishnan, former Andreessen Horowitz general partner and current White House senior AI policy advisor. The show, titled ' The Good Time Show ', featured organic conversations about startups, venture capitalism, and cryptocurrencies. It had high-profile guests like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. The show later transitioned to YouTube and evolved into 'The Aarthi and Sriram Show', which secured a podcasting deal with iHeartMedia and amassed over a million downloads by early 2023.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Aarthi Ramamurthy unveils Schema Ventures' $20 million first fund
Today at Fortune's Most Powerful Women International Summit in Riyadh, Aarthi Ramamurthy sits down to—once again—have a good time. A former engineer at Meta, Netflix, and Microsoft, Ramamurthy has since 2020 hosted an online talk show—originally called The Good Time Show—with her husband Sriram Krishnan, former Andreessen Horowitz general partner and current White House senior AI policy advisor. Now, at MPW Riyadh, she's unveiling her own VC firm as a solo GP, called Schema Ventures, which launches with a $20 million first fund. 'If you ask a VC firm, any venture capitalist, they'll be like: 'Oh, too many funds, lots of VC firms out there, I don't think we need any more partners,'' said Ramamurthy. 'But if you ask founders, there's still such a big gap. I've been through this journey, being this outsider coming into Silicon Valley. And now I've been in SF for about half my life and I have all the access and connections—but it wasn't easy to get in and break into that circle and that ecosystem. Schema is basically that culmination.' Ramamurthy comes to her fund as both an outsider and an insider. 'I come from India, small town, recruited straight out of college, worked at big tech companies, worked at Microsoft, worked with Netflix, Facebook,' she said. 'But when I came to the U.S., I'd actually never traveled outside of India. So, I packed my suitcase and showed up. I didn't have any network, no connections, no access, and sort of figured it out as I went.' Schema's LPs include big Silicon Valley names like Marc Andreessen, Garry Tan, Elad Gil, Gokul Rajaram, Charlie Songhurst, Leo Polovets, and Lachy Groom. Y Combinator's fund-of-funds is also an LP. Schema will focus on early-stage investments and writing collaborative checks, with an eye on companies in developer tools and back-end infrastructure software. The firm has already made a number of investments, including solar panel-focused robotics company Cosmic Robotics, back-office healthcare operations startup Confido Health, and law firm workflow software startup Powerhouse. 'I look at Schema as: How do you move away from the hype cycle and just truly find contrarian founders?' said Ramamurthy. 'Not for the sake of being contrarian, but because they're actually doing something that's a personal problem for them. I think that's really unique for me, and that's what I like to do.' This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
