15 May 2024, Doha – Qatar: The Hashgraph Association (THA), the Swiss-based organization at the forefront of global digital enablement, has today announced the signing of a strategic partnership with the Qatar Financial Centre to launch a Digital Assets Venture Studio, a platform to support local Qatari and international portfolio companies in the development of regulatory-compliant decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions and digital assets built on the Hedera Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) network.

The $50 million digital asset venture studio will focus on investments in Hedera-powered Web3 startups and enterprises building bankable DeFi solutions. The program will span over the next five years (2024-2028) with The Hashgraph Association contributing to 20% ($10 million).

The Hashgraph Association will launch a custom-designed Digital Assets Venture Studio to enable local Qatari companies, as well as international portfolio companies to build innovative regulatory-compliant, structured financial products and secure digital asset solutions, which will include the tokenization of real-world financial assets, on the Hedera DLT network.

The Digital Assets Venture Studio will be part of Qatar’s Digital Assets Lab within the QFC Innovation Dome, an initiative launched in December 2023 as part of Qatar’s “National Vision 2030” to accelerate research and development within the digital asset space. 

The partnership will focus on delivering legal and regulatory-compliant real-world asset tokenization solutions, providing startups and SMEs with training, financing, engineering, and resources for research and development. THA will also facilitate fintech events such as the Web Summit in Qatar to showcase developments in the digital asset space, enhancing Qatar's visibility as a leading hub for decentralized finance and digital assets.

Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, Board Member and Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Financial Centre, noted, “The Qatar Financial Centre is pleased to welcome The Hashgraph Association Digital Assets Venture Studio to the QFC Digital Assets Lab. This partnership is closely aligned with Qatar’s fintech strategy and is instrumental in advancing our efforts in developing and launching innovative projects that establish the country as a financial and commercial hub by 2030.”

Kamal Youssefi, President of The Hashgraph Association, said: “We are delighted to sign this strategic partnership with the Qatar Financial Centre in Doha Qatar. We are committed to investing and fostering the growth of a vibrant Web3 and DLT/Blockchain ecosystem with a special focus on decentralized finance and digital assets in support of Qatar’s Vision 2030 aimed at fostering an innovative regulatory compliant digital economy.”

In line with a broader strategy to accelerate development in the MENA region, this partnership follows previous milestones from THA. Earlier this year, THA signed a strategic partnership with the Saudi Ministry of Investment (MISA), for a $250 million DeepTech Venture Studio focused on enabling the convergence of deep technologies such as AI, IoT, Blockchain/DLT, Robotics, and Quantum Computing.

Stefan Deiss, Co-Founder & CEO of The Hashgraph Group, said: “We are excited to launch our Swiss/Qatari government-endorsed Digital Asset Venture Studio in Doha that will empower the next generation of Web3 financial entrepreneurs by supporting the launch of structured financial products and tokenized financial solutions, leveraging financial instruments and investment structures such as equity, funds, real estate and aircraft financing.”

Switzerland in collaboration with THA will be offering an entrepreneur exchange program to enable entrepreneurs from Qatar to travel to Switzerland and vice versa, backed by the Canton of Schwyz.

As part of this launch, THA, alongside co-investment and ecosystem partners, will also launch a sandbox to pilot use cases leveraging Hedera technology.