Airwallex, a leading global AI-native financial platform, has announced it is investing $43 million US dollars (158,000,000 AED*) in the UAE over the next five years, as part of its wider expansion across the UK and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA region).
The investment will fund new financial and agentic products and grow Airwallex’s presence in the UAE, with new leadership roles to lead local operations and support the company’s wider Middle East expansion. The first phase is already underway as Airwallex expands its Dubai office and has made several new hires already this year, drawing on the depth of local and international talent based in the UAE.
The investment reflects the scale of opportunity in the UAE’s digital-first economy. The country’s eCommerce market is forecast to reach US$21 billion by 2031[1], growing at a compound annual rate of 9.4% between 2024 and 2029. As more UAE businesses scale up, they need fast, flexible, and compliant multi-currency infrastructure to scale – precisely the gap this investment is designed to close.
Airwallex has secured In-Principle Approval from the Central Bank of the UAE for Stored Value Facilities and Retail Payment Services (Category II) licences. It continues to work towards full approval to launch its services under these licences in 2026.
Or Liban, Managing Director for the Middle East, Benelux and Nordics at Airwallex, said: “Businesses in the UAE are scaling into more markets and handling more currencies than ever, but too many are still held back by financial infrastructure built for a single one. This investment lets us close that gap. We’re growing our Dubai team and building new products to meet the needs of the region’s most ambitious companies, many of which are trading internationally from day one. This means embedding the right infrastructure from within the region, not around it.”
Airwallex has had a presence in the region since 2024 when it committed to obtain the necessary licences to launch its products in the UAE and support the local ecosystem. Additionally, Airwallex’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Pranav Sood, will speak at the Abu Dhabi Finance Week in December about its regional investment and will provide a different perspective on the modern Finance function.
Founded in Australia in 2015, Airwallex is an AI-native financial platform for modern businesses, operating in 200+ countries with more than 85 licences. Its platform serves over 676,000 businesses worldwide, directly and through platform partners, ranging from startups to large enterprises. Airwallex has recently announced its first agentic finance products, T:0, Airi and Kai, designed to help businesses scale using autonomous finance. In June, the company closed a US$320 million Series H round at an US$11 billion valuation.
*Exchange rate as of August 2026, based on the fixed peg exchange rate of 3
6725 AED per 1 USD.
** EzuDubai E-Commerce Report in the MENA Region 2024
