The Ministry of Economy has announced that VeraViews, a pioneering new digital advertising platform that uses distributed ledger technology to verify advertising views, eliminate the dissemination of harmful content and prevent bad actors from using the media supply chain to fund ad scams and extremist sites with its proprietary Proof of View technology, will be incorporated in the UAE under the NextGen FDI initiative.
The company, which is currently beta-testing its video-ad-serving product, will establish its global headquarters in Dubai’s Media City and support the UAE’s efforts in regulating an increasingly complex advertising ecosystem – ensuring marketing budgets reach verifiable audiences via properly accredited agencies and publishers.
VeraViews is the latest enterprise to take advantage of the Ministry of Economy’s NextGen FDI program, which seeks to enhance the UAE’s competitiveness by attracting innovative companies with a package of market-entry fundamentals, including fast-track incorporation, bulk visa-issuance and access to banking and commercial real estate. Its open-ledger advertising platform is powered by patented blockchain technology and has the potential to not only simplify the advertiser-publisher relationship but identify and ultimately eliminate malicious actors from the sector, at the same time contributing toward making the UAE the safest digital advertising ecosystem in the world.
According to His Excellency Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, the announcement represents an important addition to both the UAE’s innovation ecosystem and its media landscape. “The NextGen FDI initiative continues to welcome cutting-edge companies that are developing and deploying advanced technology to enhance some of our most important industries. VeraViews’ distributed ledger technology based advertising platform has the potential to revolutionize the media sector here in the UAE – and, ultimately, across the world. Advertising is a crucial means for companies to build their business, expand their customer base and promote their products and services, and it is vital we are able to create an industry that is transparent and trustworthy, and an arena in which every dollar spent by our enterprises receives a dollar’s worth of value. As the region’s leading media marketplace, the UAE welcomes the VeraViews team and looks forward to working in unison to establish a new advertising architecture that can earn the full confidence of brands, publishers and customers.”
VeraViews CEO Mark Firth, who built his knowledge of the region’s advertising landscape when supporting the expansion of UAE tech unicorn Dubizzle as part of the management team appointed by Dutch-based internet investment firm Prosus Group, believes the UAE is the ideal home for the company’s global headquarters. “The media industry in the UAE is dynamic and diverse, with a mature blend of platforms, publishers, agencies and networks. VeraViews believes our distributed ledger technology can add significant value to the sector by helping to eliminate fraud and prevent the dissemination of misinformation or other forms of harmful content. We are hugely appreciative of the support the NextGen FDI program has offered and welcome the opportunity to work with both the UAE government and industry stakeholders to build an advertising ecosystem that benefits everyone.
“This is the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the VeraViews story and I believe that we can create a new model of excellence for the UAE that can be replicated in media markets right around the world,” added Firth.
The global digital advertising market is currently worth in excess of US$550 billion, with the Middle East one of its fastest-growing regions. The region’s advertising market is projected to reach US$6.9 billion by the end of 2024, with online advertising accounting for well over half that total. The United Arab Emirates remains the second-largest advertising market, with US$1.8 billion spent in 2023.
Launched in 2022, NextGenFDI aims to support the growth of the nation’s knowledge-driven economy by attracting high-growth and high-potential companies to relocate to the UAE. To date, the program has welcomed companies operating in future-focused sectors such as robotics, precision fermentation, hybrid aviation and off-grid concentrated solar power.
