Flat6Labs, a seed and early-stage venture capital firm, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Wio Bank, the MENA region’s first platform bank.
As part of the agreement, startups from Flat6Labs Ignite, a specialised seed program run by Flat6Labs in a partnership with DisruptAD, will have the opportunity to take advantage of Wio’s innovative banking products and services.
Wio Business is the bank’s digital banking application, which provides services tailored to startups and SMEs.
Flat6Labs Ignite is expected to support up to 60 startups in Abu Dhabi by 2024, with 27 organisations already helped by the program.
These startups will now have access to Wio Business’s prioritised processing of account opening applications, as well as around-the-clock access to dedicated support services. Flat6Labs general manager Ryaan Sharif added that this means startups from international markets will gain seamless transition into establishing their headquarters in Abu Dhabi.
In addition to this, Wio Bank has also offered its subject-matter experts and mentors available to participants in the Ignite program.
Sharif said, “There is potentially no other factor that more heavily decides the fate of a start-up than its ability to effectively manage its finances. These organisations need banking partners that have a start-up ethos — centred around agility, flexibility, and innovation.
“Our long-standing expertise in empowering start-ups to establish themselves in the UAE and raise the funding they need to fuel their ambitions aligns perfectly with Wio Bank’s vision of not only providing world-class banking services, but serving as a holistic banking management platform for the modern SME.”
Wio Bank chief commercial officer Prateek Vahie added, “Being a disruptor in the financial sector, we believe we have a critical role to play in supporting the start-up ecosystem and fostering entrepreneurship in the UAE. We are committed to ensuring that our SME customers find the most viable options for the support they need, be it through funding via traditional credits or loans, peer to peer lending, angel investments, or incubators.”
Last year, Flat6Labs supported seven new Jordan-based startups.
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