Latest news with #Disrupt.com
Malaysian Reserve
30-04-2025
- Business
- Malaysian Reserve
ZIGChain Summit 2025 Reveals Shariah RWA Platform, $25M AI Fund, and June Mainnet Launch
DUBAI, UAE, April 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The inaugural ZIGChain Summit 2025 brought together visionaries from all spheres of the TradFi, Web2, and Web3 world to unveil a bold new chapter in their mission to decentralized wealth generation. Held in Dubai, the event delivered three breakthrough announcements: the launch of Zamanat, a Shariah-compliant Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization platform built on ZIGChain; a $25M Innovation Fund to support AI-powered finance tools; and the official mainnet go-live date set for June 25. From tokenized real estate and compliant DeFi to intelligent investing, ZIGChain made one thing clear — it's not just building infrastructure, it's architecting the future of inclusive, next-gen finance. Introducing Zamanat: The World's First Shariah-Compliant RWA Tokenization Platform on ZIGChain Perhaps, the summit's most consequential announcement was the unveiling of Zamanat, a Shariah-compliant platform designed to tokenize real-world assets (RWAs) by – a leading venture builder and investment firm in MENA. By building Zamanat on ZigChain, aims to democratize investments and access to wealth creation by adhering to values of ethical investing and transparency in order to power financial inclusion. Facilitating access to tokenized real-world assets, Zamanat empowers wealth managers and investors within the ZIGChain ecosystem to participate in previously inaccessible investment opportunities such as real estate, Sukuks, private credit, invoice factoring, commodities, and other tangible assets. Zamanat's introduction is timely, aligning with the UAE Government's strategic vision to become a global hub for digital assets and Islamic finance. The UAE has been proactive in integrating blockchain technology into its financial and governance infrastructure, evident from initiatives like the Dubai Land Department's sandbox for tokenized real estate transactions. Empowering Builders: $25mn DeFAI Fund As the Summit unfolded, another major highlight was the launch of the $25mn DeFAI fund by ZIGLabs, & DWF Labs. The initiative aims to develop innovative solutions that integrate artificial intelligence with blockchain technology, with a focus on advancing financial services, decentralized asset management, and digital wealth strategies. This fund comes on top of the $100mn ecosystem fund that was announced in April 2024 by ZIGLabs & the roll out of various builder support programs (labelled 'Kickstart') also emanating from the ZIGChain Summit, With this kind of support available, it is no wonder that ZIGChain, despite being in test-net, was able to put up a huge ecosystem showcase spanning so many builders. With a go-live date now clear, these support and incentive mechanisms are set to supercharge building in the ecosystem in the months to come. The countdown to ZIGChain's mainnet begins With a mainnet launch date set for 25th June 2025, ZIGChain seems to have positioned itself as a blockchain ready for retail onboarding. The Summit highlighted this operational readiness with more than 10 teams already building dApps and protocols natively on ZIGChain flanked by more than a dozen partners looking to integrate. Notable amongst them are Oroswap, an AI powered conversational DEX, Permapod, a lending protocol that accepts RWAs as collateral, and Nawa Finance, a sharia compliant DeFi aggregator that has recently onboarded Amanie as Sharia Advisors. While the decentralized applications (dApps) represent new technological developments, the community supporting them remains well-established. Zignaly, with its 1mn + users is expected to be the flagship wealth management protocol on the blockchain and be a source of early liquidity. This is what is makes the ecosystem attractive even from an institutional perspective with the likes of (one of the largest venture builders in the MENA region), DWF Labs (the leading venture fund in the Web3 Space) and PureVPN (leading cybersecurity company in the world) who have come to the fore with proposed investments in the validator set and the ecosystem as a whole. Notably, the ZIGChain Summit had a strong TradFi attendance with some of the leading figures of the UAE & Global financial landscape in attendance. With the recent announcement of UAE based Real Estate developer Ellington Properties exploring real estate tokenization with ZigChain, institutional interest is clearly evident from the outset. All Roads Lead To The Wealth Management Engine While these announcements and initiatives are exciting, the real differentiator is what ZIGChain is doing at a technology level with its wealth management engine – a modular investment management tech stack that shall enable anyone to launch a wealth creation protocol on ZIGChain and manage funds for other investors using CeFI, DeFi, or RWA opportunities. The technology is designed to streamline the investment process by minimizing complexity, including time, skill, and knowledge barriers, thereby facilitating financial intermediation and broader global access via blockchain infrastructure. This has been the vision of the core founding team behind ZIGChain since 2018 – when they started Zignaly, that is, how do users onramp a global majority that is disadvantaged from an income, knowledge or domicile perspective when it comes to wealth generation opportunities. That effort has led to a 1mn + strong community on Zignaly – the target for ZIGChain, the founders say, is everyone. About ZigChain ZIGChain is a Layer 1 blockchain built for wealth generation, powered by Zignaly's established social investment infrastructure, to create scalable, compliant, and efficient solutions for digital asset management. Founded in 2018, Zignaly has served over 500,000 users and is now extending its investment-focused capabilities to Web3 through ZIGChain. Contact:Media Teamsupport@ Logo:
Associated Press
30-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
ZIGChain Summit 2025 Reveals Shariah RWA Platform, $25M AI Fund, and June Mainnet Launch
DUBAI, UAE, April 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The inaugural ZIGChain Summit 2025 brought together visionaries from all spheres of the TradFi, Web2, and Web3 world to unveil a bold new chapter in their mission to decentralized wealth generation. Held in Dubai, the event delivered three breakthrough announcements: the launch of Zamanat, a Shariah-compliant Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization platform built on ZIGChain; a $25M Innovation Fund to support AI-powered finance tools; and the official mainnet go-live date set for June 25. From tokenized real estate and compliant DeFi to intelligent investing, ZIGChain made one thing clear — it's not just building infrastructure, it's architecting the future of inclusive, next-gen finance. Introducing Zamanat: The World's First Shariah-Compliant RWA Tokenization Platform on ZIGChain Perhaps, the summit's most consequential announcement was the unveiling of Zamanat, a Shariah-compliant platform designed to tokenize real-world assets (RWAs) by – a leading venture builder and investment firm in MENA. By building Zamanat on ZigChain, aims to democratize investments and access to wealth creation by adhering to values of ethical investing and transparency in order to power financial inclusion. Facilitating access to tokenized real-world assets, Zamanat empowers wealth managers and investors within the ZIGChain ecosystem to participate in previously inaccessible investment opportunities such as real estate, Sukuks, private credit, invoice factoring, commodities, and other tangible assets. Zamanat's introduction is timely, aligning with the UAE Government's strategic vision to become a global hub for digital assets and Islamic finance. The UAE has been proactive in integrating blockchain technology into its financial and governance infrastructure, evident from initiatives like the Dubai Land Department's sandbox for tokenized real estate transactions. Empowering Builders: $25mn DeFAI Fund As the Summit unfolded, another major highlight was the launch of the $25mn DeFAI fund by ZIGLabs, & DWF Labs. The initiative aims to develop innovative solutions that integrate artificial intelligence with blockchain technology, with a focus on advancing financial services, decentralized asset management, and digital wealth strategies. This fund comes on top of the $100mn ecosystem fund that was announced in April 2024 by ZIGLabs & the roll out of various builder support programs (labelled 'Kickstart') also emanating from the ZIGChain Summit, With this kind of support available, it is no wonder that ZIGChain, despite being in test-net, was able to put up a huge ecosystem showcase spanning so many builders. With a go-live date now clear, these support and incentive mechanisms are set to supercharge building in the ecosystem in the months to come. The countdown to ZIGChain's mainnet begins With a mainnet launch date set for 25th June 2025, ZIGChain seems to have positioned itself as a blockchain ready for retail onboarding. The Summit highlighted this operational readiness with more than 10 teams already building dApps and protocols natively on ZIGChain flanked by more than a dozen partners looking to integrate. Notable amongst them are Oroswap, an AI powered conversational DEX, Permapod, a lending protocol that accepts RWAs as collateral, and Nawa Finance, a sharia compliant DeFi aggregator that has recently onboarded Amanie as Sharia Advisors. While the decentralized applications (dApps) represent new technological developments, the community supporting them remains well-established. Zignaly, with its 1mn + users is expected to be the flagship wealth management protocol on the blockchain and be a source of early liquidity. This is what is makes the ecosystem attractive even from an institutional perspective with the likes of (one of the largest venture builders in the MENA region), DWF Labs (the leading venture fund in the Web3 Space) and PureVPN (leading cybersecurity company in the world) who have come to the fore with proposed investments in the validator set and the ecosystem as a whole. Notably, the ZIGChain Summit had a strong TradFi attendance with some of the leading figures of the UAE & Global financial landscape in attendance. With the recent announcement of UAE based Real Estate developer Ellington Properties exploring real estate tokenization with ZigChain, institutional interest is clearly evident from the outset. All Roads Lead To The Wealth Management Engine While these announcements and initiatives are exciting, the real differentiator is what ZIGChain is doing at a technology level with its wealth management engine - a modular investment management tech stack that shall enable anyone to launch a wealth creation protocol on ZIGChain and manage funds for other investors using CeFI, DeFi, or RWA opportunities. The technology is designed to streamline the investment process by minimizing complexity, including time, skill, and knowledge barriers, thereby facilitating financial intermediation and broader global access via blockchain infrastructure. This has been the vision of the core founding team behind ZIGChain since 2018 - when they started Zignaly, that is, how do users onramp a global majority that is disadvantaged from an income, knowledge or domicile perspective when it comes to wealth generation opportunities. That effort has led to a 1mn + strong community on Zignaly - the target for ZIGChain, the founders say, is everyone. About ZigChain ZIGChain is a Layer 1 blockchain built for wealth generation, powered by Zignaly's established social investment infrastructure, to create scalable, compliant, and efficient solutions for digital asset management. Founded in 2018, Zignaly has served over 500,000 users and is now extending its investment-focused capabilities to Web3 through ZIGChain. Contact: Media Team [email protected] Logo: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE ZIGChain
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ZIGChain Summit 2025 Reveals Shariah RWA Platform, $25M AI Fund, and June Mainnet Launch
DUBAI, UAE, April 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The inaugural ZIGChain Summit 2025 brought together visionaries from all spheres of the TradFi, Web2, and Web3 world to unveil a bold new chapter in their mission to decentralized wealth generation. Held in Dubai, the event delivered three breakthrough announcements: the launch of Zamanat, a Shariah-compliant Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization platform built on ZIGChain; a $25M Innovation Fund to support AI-powered finance tools; and the official mainnet go-live date set for June 25. From tokenized real estate and compliant DeFi to intelligent investing, ZIGChain made one thing clear — it's not just building infrastructure, it's architecting the future of inclusive, next-gen finance. Introducing Zamanat: The World's First Shariah-Compliant RWA Tokenization Platform on ZIGChain Perhaps, the summit's most consequential announcement was the unveiling of Zamanat, a Shariah-compliant platform designed to tokenize real-world assets (RWAs) by – a leading venture builder and investment firm in MENA. By building Zamanat on ZigChain, aims to democratize investments and access to wealth creation by adhering to values of ethical investing and transparency in order to power financial inclusion. Facilitating access to tokenized real-world assets, Zamanat empowers wealth managers and investors within the ZIGChain ecosystem to participate in previously inaccessible investment opportunities such as real estate, Sukuks, private credit, invoice factoring, commodities, and other tangible assets. Zamanat's introduction is timely, aligning with the UAE Government's strategic vision to become a global hub for digital assets and Islamic finance. The UAE has been proactive in integrating blockchain technology into its financial and governance infrastructure, evident from initiatives like the Dubai Land Department's sandbox for tokenized real estate transactions. Empowering Builders: $25mn DeFAI Fund As the Summit unfolded, another major highlight was the launch of the $25mn DeFAI fund by ZIGLabs, & DWF Labs. The initiative aims to develop innovative solutions that integrate artificial intelligence with blockchain technology, with a focus on advancing financial services, decentralized asset management, and digital wealth strategies. This fund comes on top of the $100mn ecosystem fund that was announced in April 2024 by ZIGLabs & the roll out of various builder support programs (labelled "Kickstart") also emanating from the ZIGChain Summit, With this kind of support available, it is no wonder that ZIGChain, despite being in test-net, was able to put up a huge ecosystem showcase spanning so many builders. With a go-live date now clear, these support and incentive mechanisms are set to supercharge building in the ecosystem in the months to come. The countdown to ZIGChain's mainnet begins With a mainnet launch date set for 25th June 2025, ZIGChain seems to have positioned itself as a blockchain ready for retail onboarding. The Summit highlighted this operational readiness with more than 10 teams already building dApps and protocols natively on ZIGChain flanked by more than a dozen partners looking to integrate. Notable amongst them are Oroswap, an AI powered conversational DEX, Permapod, a lending protocol that accepts RWAs as collateral, and Nawa Finance, a sharia compliant DeFi aggregator that has recently onboarded Amanie as Sharia Advisors. While the decentralized applications (dApps) represent new technological developments, the community supporting them remains well-established. Zignaly, with its 1mn + users is expected to be the flagship wealth management protocol on the blockchain and be a source of early liquidity. This is what is makes the ecosystem attractive even from an institutional perspective with the likes of (one of the largest venture builders in the MENA region), DWF Labs (the leading venture fund in the Web3 Space) and PureVPN (leading cybersecurity company in the world) who have come to the fore with proposed investments in the validator set and the ecosystem as a whole. Notably, the ZIGChain Summit had a strong TradFi attendance with some of the leading figures of the UAE & Global financial landscape in attendance. With the recent announcement of UAE based Real Estate developer Ellington Properties exploring real estate tokenization with ZigChain, institutional interest is clearly evident from the outset. All Roads Lead To The Wealth Management Engine While these announcements and initiatives are exciting, the real differentiator is what ZIGChain is doing at a technology level with its wealth management engine - a modular investment management tech stack that shall enable anyone to launch a wealth creation protocol on ZIGChain and manage funds for other investors using CeFI, DeFi, or RWA opportunities. The technology is designed to streamline the investment process by minimizing complexity, including time, skill, and knowledge barriers, thereby facilitating financial intermediation and broader global access via blockchain infrastructure. This has been the vision of the core founding team behind ZIGChain since 2018 - when they started Zignaly, that is, how do users onramp a global majority that is disadvantaged from an income, knowledge or domicile perspective when it comes to wealth generation opportunities. That effort has led to a 1mn + strong community on Zignaly - the target for ZIGChain, the founders say, is everyone. About ZigChain ZIGChain is a Layer 1 blockchain built for wealth generation, powered by Zignaly's established social investment infrastructure, to create scalable, compliant, and efficient solutions for digital asset management. Founded in 2018, Zignaly has served over 500,000 users and is now extending its investment-focused capabilities to Web3 through ZIGChain. Contact:Media Teamsupport@ Logo: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE ZIGChain
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
From bootstrapped to scale: Venture builder Disrupt.com to invest $100M to fuel next generation of AI startups from the UAE
As global VC funding retreats, three serial entrepreneurs bet on MENA's 'golden moment' for AI, reinvesting their $350M exit to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs. Dubai, Feb. 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While venture capital funding contracted globally in 2024, three founders who turned their bootstrapped startup into a $350M exit are taking a contrarian approach. Today, UAE-based venture builder announces a $100M commitment to build and back AI-first technology ventures globally. Founded by Aaqib Gadit, Uzair Gadit, and Umair Gadit - three university friends who grew up in the same household - represents the founders' reinvestment of capital following their successful 2022 exit of cloud hosting platform Cloudways to US-listed Digital Ocean Holdings. The $350M acquisition marked the largest exit in Pakistan's technology sector to date, with the founders now channeling their entrepreneurial expertise and capital back into the ecosystem through a unique venture building approach from their UAE founders: (L to R) Aaqib Gadit, Umair Gadit and Uzair Gadit. Having already deployed over $40M across their portfolio – including in four growth-stage companies built from idea stage, seven investments in early-stage companies, and an exit valued at $350 million – this new $100M commitment represents a significant expansion of their venture building activities. With a dedicated team of 650+ professionals, provides not just capital but also the technical and operational expertise startups need to scale. 'Now is the time to be doubling down on our experience, financial investment and commitment required to help build the next wave of startups that will shape the future of the world as we know it. With Web 3.0 in its infancy and AI storming into our lives, the opportunity to problem solve and create businesses that will fit the needs of how people live and work is up for the taking. Our region can not only keep up, but lead the way. We are excited to see where this journey will take us,' said founding partner Aaqib Gadit. Unlike traditional venture capital firms, employs a three-pronged approach to creating value: building their own startups from scratch, co-building ventures alongside external founders, and making strategic investments in early-stage startups and VC funds. Through their unique 'CoBuild' model, they function as fractional co-founders, providing dedicated engineering, go-to-market, and operations teams to drive early adoption in a capital-efficient way. The firm's $100M commitment targets five strategic sectors: artificial intelligence as a cross-cutting theme, plus cybersecurity, Web3.0, automotive technology, and retail innovation. primarily targets pre-seed to Series A stage startups that demonstrate strong organic growth potential and clear paths to profitability, rather than pursuing growth at all costs. The announcement comes as regional funding has declined sharply, with MENA venture capital investment down 29% to just under $2B in 2024, according to Magnitt. Saudi startups saw a 44% funding drop to $750M, while UAE funding decreased 8% to $613M, creating a challenging environment for early-stage ventures. current portfolio showcases their model's effectiveness, including ZigChain, a Web3.0 platform that has scaled to 500,000+ users and hundreds of millions in managed assets; PureSquare, a cybersecurity venture; and UAE-homegrown fitness apparel brand Squatwolf. The firm has already deployed capital as a strategic investor in several AI-focused startups including organizational transformation platform Agentnoon and climate action scaling tool Ahya. Bartolome R. Bordallo, Co-Founder & CEO of ZigChain, highlighted the venture builder's distinctive approach: "Some investors write checks. builds with you. They've helped us scale from a few early adopters to managing hundreds of millions in assets and launching our own blockchain." Anam Khalid and Wajdan Gul, Co-founders of UAE-based fitness apparel brand Squatwolf, emphasize the founder-first approach: "With Disrupt, you get founder-friendly partners because they're founders themselves. They understand our challenges and opportunities in a way traditional investors simply cannot." Looking ahead, will direct its $100M commitment toward ventures with strong product-market fit, well-researched idea-market alignment, and robust unit economics pointing toward profitability. Ends Media images can be found here. About is a leading venture builder and investor that partners with ambitious entrepreneurs to build, scale and invest in high-potential, globally focused technology startups. With a focus on transformative technologies and innovative business models that reshape industries - the firm is dedicated to providing entrepreneurs hands-on expertise and navigating the challenging path to scale. With a portfolio of 10+ companies, including notable exits such as the $350 million acquisition of Cloudways by DigitalOcean, the firm provides a combination of strategic guidance, operational expertise, and access to a network of industry leaders. These resources enable startups to achieve the milestones necessary for long-term success. For more information please visit: CONTACT: For further information please contact the Disrupt press office: Bilal Mahmood on or +44 (0) 771 400 in to access your portfolio
Arabian Business
27-02-2025
- Business
- Arabian Business
Venture builder Disrupt.com to invest $100m to fuel AI-first startups from the UAE
UAE-based venture builder announced a $100 million commitment to build and back AI-first technology ventures globally. The firm's $100 million commitment targets five strategic sectors: artificial intelligence as a cross-cutting theme, plus cybersecurity, Web 3.0, automotive technology, and retail innovation. The company said it primarily targets pre-seed to Series A stage startups that demonstrate strong organic growth potential and clear paths to profitability. The announcement comes as regional funding has declined sharply, with MENA venture capital investment down 29 per cent to just under $2 billion in 2024, according to Magnitt. Global AI venture funding said its current portfolio showcases its model's effectiveness, including ZigChain, a Web3.0 platform that has scaled to over 500,000 users and hundreds of millions in managed assets; PureSquare, a cybersecurity venture; and UAE-homegrown fitness apparel brand Squatwolf. The firm has already deployed capital as a strategic investor in several AI-focused startups including organizational transformation platform Agentnoon and climate action scaling tool Ahya. Founded by Aaqib Gadit, Uzair Gadit, and Umair Gadit – three Pakistani university friends who grew up in the same household – represents the founders' reinvestment of capital following their successful 2022 exit of cloud hosting platform Cloudways to US-listed Digital Ocean Holdings. The founders are now channelling their entrepreneurial expertise and capital back into the ecosystem through a unique venture-building approach from their UAE headquarters. 'Now is the time to be doubling down on our experience, financial investment and commitment required to help build the next wave of startups that will shape the future of the world as we know it,' said Aaqib Gadit, founding partner of 'With Web 3.0 in its infancy and AI storming into our lives, the opportunity to problem solve and create businesses that will fit the needs of how people live and work is up for the taking,' he said.
