Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has signed an agreement with the Global Start-up Studio Network (GSSN), based in Denver, Colorado in the US, to advance the venture studio model.

In April, this year DIFC introduced the world’s first Venture Studio Launchpad focused on ubiquitous finance and digital asset technologies. The initiative is a key part of DIFC’s efforts to achieve the goals of its 2030 strategy by attracting the best minds and companies from around the world to Dubai by providing them with all the necessary support to develop, test and launch new start-ups, scale-ups and corporate ventures on an unprecedented scale, time to market and quality.

Having introduced the Venture Studio Launchpad, DIFC is committed to advance the potential contribution venture studios can make to start-up and innovation ecosystems. This will be achieved by helping them share best-practice and future-proof their relevance as the needs of their users continue to evolve.

The agreement will also see DIFC and GSSN organise in-person and virtual events for venture studios, and foster collaboration to develop purpose-built frameworks and tools for their use. Additionally, they will design and disseminate legal frameworks and templates for venture studios and drive thought leadership by creating content specific to venture studios.

Arif Amiri, CEO of DIFC Authority, said: “As part of DIFC’s commitment to support Dubai build its position as a global hub for technology and innovation, we recognise the benefits of the venture studio model to the worldwide start-up community. We have studied the model extensively and in collaboration with GSSN, we will advance the thinking of venture studios so they can better meet the needs of start-ups now and in the future. Helping venture studios increase their relevance to the start-up and innovation ecosystem will also stimulate greater use of them as well as attract more to establish in DIFC.”

Patrick Riley, CEO of GSSN, said: “The venture studio ecosystem is booming around the world. At GSSN, our goal is to communicate the benefits of studios to the global innovation economy and help the success of our member studios. In this mission, we are happy to partner with an organisation such as DIFC to strengthen our global footprint and to have a thought partner with unique legal, regulatory, investment and innovation ecosystem.”

As a first action resulting from this agreement, DIFC and GSSN are jointly planning a virtual event on – The Status of the Global Venture Studio Ecosystem – on 18 October 2022. The event will also reveal more details on the unique legal framework and commercial license tailored to Venture and Corporate Innovation Studios that DIFC has developed.