Airwallex, a leading global AI-native financial platform, has announced it is investing $43 million in the UAE over the next five years, as part of its wider expansion across the UK and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).
The investment will fund new financial and agentic products and expand Airwallex’s presence in the UAE, with new leadership roles to oversee local operations and support the company’s broader Middle East expansion. The first phase is already underway as Airwallex expands its Dubai office and has made several new hires already this year, drawing on the depth of local and international talent based in the UAE.
The investment reflects the scale of opportunity in the UAE’s digital-first economy. The country’s eCommerce market is forecast to reach US$21 billion by 2031, growing at a compound annual rate of 9.4% between 2024 and 2029. As more UAE businesses scale up, they need fast, flexible, and compliant multi-currency infrastructure to scale – precisely the gap this investment is designed to close.
Airwallex has secured In-Principle Approval from the Central Bank of the UAE for licences for Stored Value Facilities and Retail Payment Services (Category II). It continues to work towards full approval to launch its services under these licences in 2026.
Or Liban, Managing Director for the Middle East, Benelux and Nordics at Airwallex, said: “Businesses in the UAE are scaling into more markets and handling more currencies than ever, but too many are still held back by financial infrastructure built for a single one. This investment lets us close that gap. We’re growing our Dubai team and building new products to meet the needs of the region’s most ambitious companies, many of which are trading internationally from day one. This means embedding the right infrastructure from within the region, not around it.”
Airwallex has had a presence in the region since 2024, when it committed to obtaining the necessary licences to launch its products in the UAE and support the local ecosystem. Additionally, Airwallex’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Pranav Sood, will speak at Abu Dhabi Finance Week in December about the company’s regional investment and provide a different perspective on the modern Finance function.
