Egyptian start-up Thndr, a member of Abu Dhabi's Hub71, has joined the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange as the bourse's first remote retail trading member, allowing its users to invest directly into the UAE stock market.
The addition of Cairo-based Thndr, a digital investment platform with more than four million users, will boost the ADX's standing as a preferred destination for investments, the exchange said in a statement on Thursday.
Thndr, which set up base in the UAE capital through the Hub71 start-up platform, is regulated by Abu Dhabi Global Market's Financial Services Regulatory Authority. The company, which serves markets in the UAE, Egypt and the US, will provide its users with investment access to asset classes including stocks, gold, mutual funds and savings products, the ADX said.
The move is aimed at "creating tangible trading bridges across the region’s capital market", Abdulla Alnuaimi, group chief executive of ADX, said in the statement. "We are setting a benchmark for digital innovation and cross-border collaboration in financial services as we continue to be a key driver in Abu Dhabi’s transition to a knowledge and investment-led economy."
The ADX, with a market capitalisation of more than Dh3.15 trillion ($857.6 billion) as of Thursday, is the second largest exchange in the Arab world after Saudi Arabia's Tadawul. It was ranked as the seventh largest in the world for emerging market bourses in 2024.
The exchange has recorded a surge in initial public offerings in recent years, driven by robust investor demand for new issues, as well as economic growth in the UAE.
The arrival of Thndr on the ADX would also open the "doors to exposure within Mena [the Middle East and North Africa region] through Tabadul as well as beyond Mena", said Ahmad Hammouda, co-founder and chief executive of Thndr, referring to the ADX's digital exchange centre, which is the first of its kind in the region.
Thndr, founded in 2020, is also growing its workforce, with job postings on its Hub71 page. The company has raised $37 million in funding, data from start-up tracker Crunchbase shows.
