Breaking records - UAE

UAE-based fintech Epic Markets has secured USD 10 million in a pre-seed funding round from London-based investor Karatage, the company said in a press release. Founded earlier this year and headquartered in Dubai, Epic Markets is building a multi-asset brokerage platform aimed at retail customers that promises institutional-grade execution and access across asset classes.

“We are building a platform that brings institutional-grade execution to retail investors, with deep liquidity and a user experience tailored for the region,” the startup said in its announcement.

The investment marks one of the higher-profile early-stage fintech raises out of the UAE in 2026, and comes as local capital markets and commodity flows record elevated activity. The backing from Karatage — a London-based investor — will be used to accelerate product development, expand regional licensing efforts and scale customer acquisition across the Gulf. Epic Markets’ proposition, based on the company’s short statement, focuses on multi-asset access for retail clients, seeking to narrow the service gap between retail brokerages and institutional desks.

Epic Markets joins a wave of transactional and capital-market moves in the UAE this year. Sovereign and corporate issuers have been active in debt markets, and state-linked energy players continue to reshape export routes and sales mechanisms. Key recent market facts include:

• The Central Bank of the UAE held the Overnight Deposit Facility rate at 3.65%, aligning with the US Federal Reserve’s decision and keeping the short-term borrowing rate 50 basis points above the base rate.
• Adnoc sold at least 12 million barrels of spot crude in its latest tender, bringing awards across seven tenders since early June to more than 86 million barrels — roughly equivalent to a month of the UAE’s pre-war exports.
• Das Island, the UAE’s only LNG export plant, has a capacity of about 6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa); several LNG carriers owned or chartered by Adnoc reportedly stopped transmitting AIS signals while maneuvering near the Strait of Hormuz and Das Island.
• Fertiglobe exported volumes equivalent to 56% of its UAE production during 2Q despite logistical constraints; the company is exploring truck and rail routes to avoid potential prolonged closures of the Strait of Hormuz.

Fertiglobe’s CEO Ahmed El Hoshy described the company’s approach to potential disruption: “We still expect to export through Hormuz, but we want flexibility to continue producing and moving products if it is closed.” He added that the group has been trucking fertilizer cargoes overland to ports outside Hormuz and is in exploratory talks with Etihad Rail on rail options, though no binding agreements have been disclosed.

For Epic Markets, the funding arrives against a backdrop of heightened investor and commercial activity across the UAE. The pre-seed capital should allow the firm to push towards regulatory approvals and initial product launches in the region, while Karatage’s London base could help with international market access and institutional partnerships. Observers will watch whether Epic Markets can translate early-stage capital into accelerated customer growth and competitive execution — a necessary step if it aims to deliver the institutional-grade services it promises to regional retail investors.