UAE’s Fin-Tech Startup Jibrel Wins Abu Dhabi Innovation Challenge 2019

Jibrel, an Abu Dhabi native blockchain-based fin-tech startup wins the 2019 Fin-tech Abu Dhabi Innovation Challenge. The startup bagged the award for its work on Jibrel.com, a fully-regulated blockchain-enabled private financing and investing platform.

As a winner, Jibrel will represent Abu Dhabi and the greater MENA region at the Global Fin-Tech Hackcelerator in Singapore this month for a chance to win a $200,000 grant. Jibrel was one of two startups chosen from a pool of 14 startups, based on its scalability, market readiness and maturity, and the depth of team experience.

Established in 2017, the startup’s platform provides a vertically-integrated solution that connects startups and small to medium entreprises (SMEs) with investors from all sectors to generate capital formation. The young startup already has an array of extensive partnerships in the MENA and beyond, as well as several fin-tech solutions implemented as part of its mission to creating a globally relevant product. 

“58% of GCC wealth sits outside the region. We have discovered that this is not due to financial performance or concerns over the regulatory landscape. Rather, we have learned that it is due to investment accessibility – an inability to source, access and invest in the right opportunities. Jibrel’s tech-enabled financing platform improves accessibility, while ensuring investor protection through legally enforceable digital equities,” says Talal Tabbaa, co-founder and COO of Jibrel.

Jibrel is working under the regulatory committee board of Abu Dhabi Global Market to deliver its solution in a fully-compliant manner, as well as partnering with Eversheds Sutherland for its legal framework.  In 2018, the startup paired up with Al Hilal Bank, Jibrel settled the first blockchain-powered Islamic bond as part of the Abu Dhabi Global Market’s regulatory laboratory.