Bahrain, Karnataka Sign Pact on Cooperation in Fintech, AI, Cyber Security

The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) and Karnataka government on Thursday signed a pact to promote cooperation in AI, fintech and other emerging technologies.

The Kingdom's investment promotion agency signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Department of Information Technology; Biotechnology; and Science & Technology of the state government on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting here.

The agreement aims to build robust fintech, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and cybersecurity ecosystems where startups and technology firms engage in external partnerships with corporates, universities, research institutions, technology experts and government agencies.

Besides, it is looking to develop education programmes and curricula relating to fintech, AI, IoT and cybersecurity to benefit the sectors in their respective jurisdiction. This may include facilitating and enhancing cooperation between relevant authorities such as universities/research institutions, technology experts, and government agencies.

They will also nurture fintech, AI and cybersecurity startups and centres and collaborate to facilitate their growth through development and support.

Bahrain is one of the oldest and most established financial centres in the Gulf region and it has capitalised on its banking expertise to grow one of the most concentrated and advanced fintech ecosystems in Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Karnataka is also known as a leading technology hub in India and has also emerged as the leading R&D and innovation ecosystem for startups. It is home to over 1.2 million software professionals and a large number of Fortune 500 companies.

EDB said Bahrain will benefit from Karnataka's expertise in emerging technologies such AI and cybersecurity, while Karnataka will have access to the Kingdom's renowned fintech prowess.

Authorities from both sides will also collaborate on facilitating SMEs, including startups, through incubation and ecosystem exposure visits.

Economic and trading relationships between India and Bahrain has been shifting increasingly towards service exports, fintech and ICT. Bilateral trade between the two nations currently stands at some USD 1.3 billion.

Khalid Humaidan, Chief Executive of Bahrain Economic Development Board, said: "Bahrain and India share historic ties dating back 5,000 years to the Dilmun era, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in annual bilateral trade. With today's MoU signing at Davos, we look forward to further strengthening those links and welcoming innovative Indian firms seeking to access and scale across the growing $1.5 trillion GCC market.

"Bahrain not only offers competitive costs and easy set-up, but the government has implemented a programme of ambitious reforms to encourage investment in a range of sectors. India is an emerging power in fields such as FinTech and ICT, with great experience we can learn from - and as the de facto test bed of the Gulf, Bahrain has positioned itself as the ideal destination of choice for turning knowledge into opportunity."

E V Ramana Reddy, Additional Chief Secretary at the Department of IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka, said: "For the first time, Government of Karnataka is keenly participating in the WEF Annual Meeting with a delegation headed by Chief Minister.

"The Annual Meeting is a fitting venue for the signing of this MoU as global leaders have converged here to discuss sustainability. Disruptive technologies such as AI and IoT have the potential to solve this challenge." PTI BJ

Bahrain Inviting Indian Startups and Venture Capitalists

Island nation Bahrain, which recently launched and closed a $100 million 'superfund' called Al Waha Venture Capital 'Fund of Funds', is welcoming startups and venture capitalists (VC) from India to access the country's startup ecosystem, said John Kilmartin, Executive Director, ICT at Bahrain's Economic Development Board (EDB).

Set up by EDB in May, Al Waha Fund of Funds specializes in fund of fund investments which typically invests in venture capital funds supporting startups in Bahrain and across the Middle East. The idea is to bring more VCs into the Bahrain ecosystem as majority of the ecosystem is in the early stage and is trying to get VCs who will invest.

The EDB is open to welcoming early-stage startups based out of India and even support them in scaling up further, said Kilmartin. To recall, EDB already set up its office in Mumbai to accelerate its fintech development program and even launched a new fintech fund to invest in Indian startups that have an economic interest in Bahrain.

Through Bahrain, start-up companies that have built their products or services in Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai or other parts of India can access the market in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), an alliance of six countries in the Arabian Peninsula - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE.

Speaking on how startup VCs can raise funds in Bahrain, Kilmartin further said,“We are looking at launching government funding for tech companies. It will be launched in the near future. We see three elements of funding that needs to be put in place — the government, availability of money in the early stages of a startup and encouraging angel investment, so that private investments can get made during the seeding stage. We are also looking to attract and have VC investments in place.”

Notably in last year, Bahrain ranked 2nd in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in terms of Ease of Doing Business. MENA encompasses approximately 22 countries.

The number of startups in the country has grown at a compound annual growth rate of almost 50 percent over the past three years, as per the data by EDB.

Bahrain is also home to many accelerators and incubators that support fintech startups in gaining access to expertise funding. Additionally, payments services are also boosting in Bahrain as the Central Bank of Bahrain launched launched the nation’s first e-wallet 'BenefitPay', in June this year.

During a his visit to the Indian subcontinent, Simon Galpin, the then Managing Director of EDB had invited Indian fintech companies to relocate their offices to Bahrain's newly launch Fintech center.

Get Baqala, an Indian grocery delivery app, was among the startups that found their way to Bahrain. Founded in 2016 by Amjad Puliyali and Aboobacker Shinan, the startup was incubated with Bahrain Development Bank’s Rowad program, where it got access to initial working capital through the Seedfuel program and access to the Global Accelerator Network (GAN).

Last year, Bahrain also introduced regulation to allow onshore crowdfunding in conventional and sharia-compliant finance, reduced the minimum capital required for starting a business. With this, Bahrain becomes the second country within the Gulf Cooperation Council, after the United Arab Emirates, to allow crowdfunding.

Source - Money Control

[Top Image - bizbahrain.com]

Bahrain Inviting Indian Startups and Venture Capitalists

Island nation Bahrain, which recently launched and closed a $100 million 'superfund' called Al Waha Venture Capital 'Fund of Funds', is welcoming startups and venture capitalists (VC) from India to access the country's startup ecosystem, said John Kilmartin, Executive Director, ICT at Bahrain's Economic Development Board (EDB).

Set up by EDB in May, Al Waha Fund of Funds specializes in fund of fund investments which typically invests in venture capital funds supporting startups in Bahrain and across the Middle East. The idea is to bring more VCs into the Bahrain ecosystem as majority of the ecosystem is in the early stage and is trying to get VCs who will invest.

The EDB is open to welcoming early-stage startups based out of India and even support them in scaling up further, said Kilmartin. To recall, EDB already set up its office in Mumbai to accelerate its fintech development program and even launched a new fintech fund to invest in Indian startups that have an economic interest in Bahrain.

Through Bahrain, start-up companies that have built their products or services in Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai or other parts of India can access the market in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), an alliance of six countries in the Arabian Peninsula - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE.

Speaking on how startup VCs can raise funds in Bahrain, Kilmartin further said,“We are looking at launching government funding for tech companies. It will be launched in the near future. We see three elements of funding that needs to be put in place — the government, availability of money in the early stages of a startup and encouraging angel investment, so that private investments can get made during the seeding stage. We are also looking to attract and have VC investments in place.”

Notably in last year, Bahrain ranked 2nd in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in terms of Ease of Doing Business. MENA encompasses approximately 22 countries.

The number of startups in the country has grown at a compound annual growth rate of almost 50 percent over the past three years, as per the data by EDB.

Bahrain is also home to many accelerators and incubators that support fintech startups in gaining access to expertise funding. Additionally, payments services are also boosting in Bahrain as the Central Bank of Bahrain launched launched the nation’s first e-wallet 'BenefitPay', in June this year.

During a his visit to the Indian subcontinent, Simon Galpin, the then Managing Director of EDB had invited Indian fintech companies to relocate their offices to Bahrain's newly launch Fintech center.

Get Baqala, an Indian grocery delivery app, was among the startups that found their way to Bahrain. Founded in 2016 by Amjad Puliyali and Aboobacker Shinan, the startup was incubated with Bahrain Development Bank’s Rowad program, where it got access to initial working capital through the Seedfuel program and access to the Global Accelerator Network (GAN).

Last year, Bahrain also introduced regulation to allow onshore crowdfunding in conventional and sharia-compliant finance, reduced the minimum capital required for starting a business. With this, Bahrain becomes the second country within the Gulf Cooperation Council, after the United Arab Emirates, to allow crowdfunding.

Source - Money Control

[Top Image - bizbahrain.com]

Bahrain Invites India's Fintech Startups To Relocate Offices

Indian Fintech industry has caught Bahrain's attention. During a recent visit to the Indian subcontinent, Simon Galpin, Managing Director, Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) revealed the kingdom's plan to set up a Fintech Centre by next year.

The Centre, which is expected to go live by February/March 2018, will be providing accelerators and co-working spaces for fintech companies. In addition to this, it will also be providing networking opportunities to startups and financial institutions interested in the making it big in the fintech industry.

EDB's Galpin was in the country last week as part of his country's efforts in pursuing Indian fintech startups and manufacturing companies in pharmaceuticals and food processing industries who are looking for opportunities to expand to locate to Bahrain and make use of the liberal environment that the country has to offer.

According to him, the country isn't necessarily looking at early stage companies, it is in fact more in the favour of firms that have already established a name for themselves in their own home country and are now looking for ways to spread their ground.

Galpin has been always appreciative of India's fintech industry, especially of the mobile payments space. He believes that the companies can have a brighter future on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market. According to him, since a majority of foreign workers in Bahrain are here without local bank accounts, mobile payments can be of big help in the country.

In addition to the Fintech centre plans, Bahrain had recently launched a regulatory sandbox that allows startups and fintech companies to test and experiment their banking ideas and solutions.

The regulatory sandbox provides a great opportunity for fintech businesses around the globe to expand and thrive in the Gulf and puts Bahrain in a strong position as a fintech and financial services hub in the GCC.

Bahrain’s EDB Sets Up a New Fintech Fund to Invest in Indian Startups

Bahrain’s EDB has set up office in Mumbai to accelerate its fintech development program. The new fintech fund will invest in Indian startups that have an economic interest in Bahrain. In a bid to speed up its financial offerings in the fintech space, Bahrain has tied up with the Singapore Fintech Consortium to invest in fintech start-ups in the middle-east and Asia region to boost the development of financial technology in Bahrain.

The new fund will earmark a certain portion of its investment assets to Indian startups that have an interest in the Bahrain region and those that are planning to scale up their operations in the middle-east.

Bahrain will also run accelerator programs to bring fintech innovation to the Middle-east. “We are going to run a couple of accelerator programs. Once we identify fintech ventures which have an interest in Bahrain, then the logical next step is to set up a visit, and so we can connect them with the regulators or telecom companies or financial institutions. We will manage that through Mumbai,” said David Parker, Business Development, Financial Services, Bahrain Economic Development Board.

Parker also said that Bahrain’s Economic Development Board is talking to quite a few companies and bringing them together in the Fintech Hub in Bahrain. “The EDB joins all the different components and we look at the innovators around the world and get them to Bahrain. We are the glue that puts all the different things together. With the focus being on driving the ecosystem faster,” added Parker.

Bahrain has a strong financial industry and the country has been doing financial services for over 50 years, and so it will be able to catch up with some of the fintech developments that have happened in countries like India and Europe. “We are working with regulators and we are keen to catch up with the rest of the world on fintech development,” mentioned Parker.