EnjinStarter, next generation Launchpad for Blockchain games and the metaverse, which is based out of Singapore, could be setting up base soon in UAE.
Prakash Somosundram CEO and Co Founder at EnjinStarter recently visited Dubai.  Nigel Hawley board advisor and a investor in True Global Ventures (TGV), which also recently invested 3 million USD in a series A round as a lead investor into Enjinstarter hosted the visit. EnjinStarter has received a total of 8 million in funding since its inception.EnjinStarter, built on JumpNet is enabling creators and game developers to run capital raising campaigns and build communities using blockchain tech. Not only do they issue tokens but provide game developers with a way to explore other innovative ways of raising capital including utilizing NFTs. They even have an incubation program, supported by an accredited partner network.
Concurrently the MENA gaming sector is one of the fastest-growing gaming markets in the world, with revenue across the MENA-3 (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Egypt) reaching 1.76 billion in 2021.
Since late 2021 and early 2022, a lot of efforts and investments are moving towards a Blockchain enabled gaming sector. Abu Dhabi based, AD Gaming, an entity driving Abu Dhabi’s fast-growing gaming industry partnered with ATTARIUS Network, a UAE crypto and blockchain company, to bring blockchain solutions to the UAE game developers, with a focus on developing blockchain gaming, ATTARIUS Network to build an all-in-one NFT ecosystem for the gaming industry and digital artists.
Back to EnjinStarter, on the LinkedIN post Hawley stated, “What a great pleasure it was welcoming Enjinstarter, to Dubai. We had a fantastic week introducing Prakash Somosundram, CEO and Co-Founder and Shitij Gupta, CFO, to the Dubai ecosystem. We started with some interesting metaverse and blockchain panel discussions at the Top CEO Conference and Awards.”
He adds in his post that insightful discussions were also held with UAE Crypto Oasis team represented by Saqr Ereiqat as well as the founders of MetaTerrace.
He notes in his post that the highlight of the discussions where the meeting with the Founder of UAE Based Cypher Capital, which launched in March its 100 million USD fund in Blockchain, crypto startups emphasizing those who have set up a base in UAE. As Hawley states, “Highlight was the fruitful discussions with Bijan AliZadeh, Founder and CEO of Cypher Capital.”
From the comments on the post, it seems likely that there is a good chance that EnjinStarter will be making Dubai as a base for its operations in the MENA region. Hawley adds at the end of the post, “We are looking forward to seeing EnjinStarter in Dubai on a more permanent basis going forward.”
Both Crypto Oasis and Cypher Capital have espoused their intentions to build the blockchain ecosystem in the MENA region. Crypto Oasis recently announced that there are 1000 blockchain crypto companies in the UAE. During Davos CryptoOasis which had targeted 1000 Blockchain and crypto entities by end of 2022, re assessed its aim given that already 1000 blockchain and crypto companies have set up base in the UAE. Crypto Oasis is now aiming to have 1500 Blockchain crypto companies set up in UAE by end of 2022, and it looks like EnjinStarter could be one of them.
In the crypto Oasis press release, Ralf Glabischnig, Founder of Crypto Oasis said, “This is an exciting time for us as we exceed expectations considerably month after month. Our target for the year has been achieved already and we’re anticipating exceptional growth in the future. The first months of 2022 have already shown that the key pillars of growing and building the Ecosystem are talent, capital and infrastructure. We believe we are still at an early stage but with the speed of development and growth that we see day by day across the community in this region, we look forward to further advancing the Blockchain economy in the Middle East.”
In the UAE today 53 percent of organizations active in the Blockchain space are native Blockchain entities, which mean their primary focus is blockchain technology, the rest are non-native blockchain organizations which means they offer services or product related to blockchain but not as their primary focus.