The two-year-old Dubai Future District Fund held its annual meeting from the Museum of the Future stage, revealing progress on its mission to boost founders’ access to Middle East capital and accelerate tech development.

The fund, which is anchored by the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) and the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF), said on Wednesday it has allocated 20% of its initial Dh1 billion ($270 million) capitalization. 

The money has gone to 14 start-ups, three follow-on investments and six funds. Its portfolio leans heavily toward fintech and artificial intelligence ventures and venture capital, with Arbor Ventures, Beco Capital, Global Ventures and Cotu Ventures on the funds side and startups like Mamo, Lune and Nym Card taking investment. In total, DFDF has supported over 25 projects and nearly doubled the total headcount within those ventures. 

In a keynote speech, UAE Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri talked about how the DFDF is aimed at building the country’s competitiveness and hinted at broader ambitions for the young fund, with massive opportunities in other sectors.

“The UAE is focused on activating opportunities within the circular economy, clean energy, smart transportation, sustainable aviation, and agricultural technology sectors with the aim of transitioning towards a diversified, knowledge-based economy,” he said.