The fund will be operated by a few gaming and finance veterans. It will focus on “high growth” gambling companies from the seed stage to Series A. Over the next five-year period, it expects to launch more than 25 startups in online gaming, Web3, crypto and blockchain.

The fund’s focus is on the UAE, which will soon be regulated. While it is not clear what the regulations will be, this is a very promising region and operators are already prepared. The future of gambling is bright in the UAE, according to Mona Motwani, CEO and venture partner at Ixia Capital.

In September, the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority was created in the UAE in order to establish a regulatory frame work for national lotteries and commercial gaming.

Motwani stated that the legal casino market will be a huge thing in the UAE.

“Even though Ixia has a global focus, we are focusing on the UAE, India, and Africa in phase one because that’s where our expertise lies.”

The team is made up of gaming and finance experts

Motwani has a wealth experience, having spent seven years with Sportradar as the head of government relations for the Indian subcontinent. Tyler Dean, Imran Bukhari, and Biren Gala are also fund partners.

Dean has a solid background in VC funds, having advised and run multiple VC and Growth Equity Funds spanning various US industries.

Bukhari is a tech developer with seven years of experience as a software consultant at Bet365. His igaming provider firm NE Group developed various solutions for igaming operators across Africa, including 888bets’ African JV.

Gala has 10 years experience in private equity financing with Mayfair Equity Advisory, UK.

The fund’s target

Ixia Studio, the fund’s US-based venture firm, has made a number of investments and is working on launching a variety of projects, including games studio FasFas Games as well as Sports NFT Trading Exchange and a gaming loyalty rewards platforms, sports investment thought leadership platforms and a sports coverage app and games engagement app.

Ixia declined to give more details about the various projects that are in motion.

Motwani stated that Ixia Studio had already received investments and the launch is expected to take place in the next few months.

Motwani stated that he was interested in both B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to consumer) startups.

“We are excited about exploring the unique projects that combine esports with gaming, web3, cryptocurrency, and blockchain,” she said.

UAE gaming regulation likely to be implemented in the near future

CBRE, a real estate and investment firm, published a report in June predicting that regulated gaming would be coming to the UAE soon.

“Decriminalisation will likely take the shape of a Federal Decree, or legislative changes to criminal and penal codes.” We expect these legislative changes in the next few weeks, given the increased activity in the region as well as the public company comments.

CBRE said that a well-regulated gaming environment could be up quickly, thanks to the ease of access to illegal and gray market online gaming providers available in the UAE via VPN or proxy.

“We suspect that cleaning this up will become a major priority of the GCGRA,” added the report.

Wynn Resorts currently develops an integrated resort to be completed in the Emirate Ras Al Khaimah by 2027.