Dubai metaverse start-up Bedu launches operations

Bedu, a UAE-based start-up focused on the metaverse, launched its operations in Dubai as it aims to leverage the potential of the Emirates to become a hub for emerging technologies.

The company aims to attract investment and expertise from around the world to the UAE to accelerate the development of Web3, blockchain, non-fungible tokens and the metaverse, innovations that are reshaping the way people interact and conduct their activities, it said in a statement on Thursday.

“Bedu is committed to creating ... solutions within the UAE and then expanding that progress throughout the Mena region and beyond, because we see the country as a potential Silicon Valley for NFTs and blockchain,” said Khaled Al Huraimel, co-founder and chairman of Bedu.

“We are born out of the UAE, but global in our vision for the next iteration of humanity’s shared digital world."

"We shall build a new virtual economy and the next digital frontier," said Mr Al Huraimel, who is also the group chief executive of Sharjah environmental management company Beeah Group.

Web3 is the third stage of the web's evolution that leverages the capabilities of artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain to make the internet smarter.

The market for the technology is expected to be valued at almost $6.2 billion in 2023 and will grow at a compound annual rate of almost 45 per cent from 2023 to 2030, according to Market Research Future.

NFTs, meanwhile, are unique digital properties in the form of art or media purchased using blockchain technology. The metaverse is the emerging digital space that allows those in it to communicate and move using three-dimensional avatars or digital representations.

The NFT market surpassed $50bn in 2021 while the metaverse sector was valued at around $63bn, according to Emergen Research.

Bedu aims to attract investment and expertise from around the world to the UAE to accelerate the development of Web3, blockchain, NFTs and the metaverse. Photo: Bedu

Bedu operates under two business units: Bedu Labs, an “NFT factory” that provides solutions for clients interested in leveraging the potential of Web3, and Bedu World, which handles the metaverse.

The company has also set up UAE NFT, an Emirates-based NFT collection that aims to build a community within the industry.

“We use AI, machine learning and the world’s most sophisticated cyber security to deliver a democratised, ethical blockchain that the world can trust," said Misha Hanin, co-founder and chief executive of Bedu.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”