Two winners of the FinTech Abu Dhabi (FinTechAD) Innovation Challenge were announced during the inaugural FinTech Abu Dhabi event. They are Silent Eight from Singapore and FRS Labs from India. The two FinTech AD winners will go on to Singapore for the Singapore FinTech Festival on 16 November 2017 with the ADGM FinTech Team.

Silent Eight and FRS Lab were part of the 11 global FinTech firms that selected from 166 applications of 39 countries. All the 11 finalists showcased their solutions on the main stage of the FinTech Summit in Abu Dhabi, to a panel of international industry experts and regulators. The FinTechAD Innovation Challenge was judged by a panel of local and international industry experts and regulators.

Martin Markiewicz, CEO of Silent Eight said: "Our whole team all around the world worked extremely hard over past few years to bring combating money laundering and extremist financing to the next level. We finally figured out how to do this right leveraging Artificial Intelligence, launched our solution with first global banks and decided to open our R&D office in Abu Dhabi. This award came in few weeks after making this decision. We here at Silent Eight feel really welcomed and we are extremely happy and grateful."

Shankar Palaniandy, CEO and Founder of FRS Labs, said: "Winning the Fintech Abu Dhabi Innovation Challenge was overwhelmingly fulfilling after a rigorous five week process. All credit to the KPMG team and the ADGM mentors who ensured we got our message across clearly. We are solving the simple problem of opening a Bank Account, but this has profound value and impact for millions of people. The win has led to a number of client interests which will hopefully help us partner with Financial Institutions and Regulators in the region enabling us to reach our goal of bringing a billion unbanked and under banked into the formal financial system."

Wai Lum Kwok, Executive Director (Capital Markets) of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of ADGM, said: "For the FinTech Abu Dhabi Innovation Challenge, we have such an amazing group of 11 global firms with such impressive game-changing and transformational solutions that serve to address real business challenges that the financial services industry currently deals with. In the face of such outstanding talents, we had to narrow down to two teams who have solutions that can uniquely help revolutionise the financial services industry today to help build the knowledge-based economy of tomorrow. ADGM would like to thank each firm for sharing their talents and innovations; we are confident that all of them have left an incredible mark with the global FinTech community."

Emilio Pera, Head of Financial Services for KPMG said: "The FinTech Abu Dhabi Innovation Challenge was an excellent platform for start-ups in the UAE to network with some of the brightest minds in the industry and benefit from their counsel and mentorship. We are pleased to announce that the programme came to a very successful conclusion and the shortlisted teams were able to demonstrate a very high level of skill and innovation that will drive the financial services industry forward and enable it to address some of the most pressing challenges it is facing today.

Naturally it was a difficult decision to choose two finalists from among a group of such talented individuals but the jury is pleased with its final decision. We hope to launch another edition of the programme next year - but in the meanwhile we would like to congratulate the winners and the other participants for contributing to a very stimulating programme."

Keep up with further speaker announcements at www.fintechabudhabi.com

About FinTech Abu Dhabi 2017

Bringing together global and local financial institutions, FinTech start-ups, investors, regulatory agencies and the business community to network,  collaborate  and  exchange  expertise  and knowledge in FinTech developments in Abu Dhabi, the wider MENA region and internationally. For more details of the ADGM’s FinTech Abu Dhabi event, visit www.fintechabudhabi.com  to register interest.

About Abu Dhabi Global Market

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), an international financial centre located in the capital city of the United Arab Emirates, opened for business on 21 October 2015.

In line with the Abu Dhabi's Economic Vision, ADGM is a natural extension of Abu Dhabi's role as a reliable and responsible member of the global financial community. Strategically situated in Abu Dhabi, home to one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, ADGM plays a pivotal role in positioning Abu Dhabi as a global centre for business and finance that connects the growing economies of the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

ADGM's three independent authorities, the Registration Authority, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority and ADGM Courts, enable registered companies to conduct business in a zero-percent tax environment and operate with confidence within an international regulatory framework with its own independent judicial system and legislative infrastructure based on the Common Law.

Established by a UAE Federal Decree as a broad based financial centre, ADGM's foundation is anchored on three of Abu Dhabi’s strategic strengths - private banking, wealth management and asset management and will continually expand its financial services in response to the needs of its businesses and marketplace. For more details of ADGM, please visit www.adgm.com or follow us on Twitter: @adglobalmarket