SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s innovation, fintech investment and ventures arm, and NEXT176, the venture building and investment arm of Old Mutual, a Pan-African financial services group, have joined forces to launch an inclusive financial wellness platform.

With a shared vision to address financial inclusion, and improve access to budgeting and financial planning tools, this strategic partnership will merge two ventures: SC Ventures-backed Autumn, a financial goals and wealth planning app that was incubated in Singapore; and NEXT176-backed 22seven, a budget aggregation and tracking app based in South Africa.

This inclusive wealth management platform will aim to bring simple, affordable, AI-led and Shariah-compliant wealth management solutions to users in the Middle East, Africa and beyond.

“The UAE and the Middle East are emerging as one of the leading destinations for wealth management globally — whether it’s high net worth income population, Millennials, or Gen Z — there is demand for technologically advanced and highly-customised wealth management tools supported by ongoing financial education,” said Benito Mable, Venture and Strategic Partnerships Lead based in the UAE. “The assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East rose 16% to US$1.2 trillion in 2022, according to BCG. The region is expected to grow further and remain the fourth-largest wealth hub in the world making UAE a perfect market for our base.”

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