DIFC and IPEM power landmark IPEM Future Preview in Dubai, uniting global and regional private capital leaders

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the leading global financial hub in the MEASA region, and International Private Equity Market (IPEM) today announced the outcomes of the first IPEM Future Preview, an exclusive gathering in Dubai for the world and region’s most influential private capital investors.

For the first time in the region and hosted at DIFC, the closed-door event brought together senior representatives from sovereign wealth funds, global investment firms, and leading growth and venture platforms to discuss how long-term capital can shape the next phase of innovation, resilience and economic transformation. The Preview underscored Dubai’s expanding role as the region’s preferred destination for private markets and a meeting point for global investors seeking access to new liquidity and investment capital.

The day-long agenda was designed to accelerate collaboration in a high-energy, workshop driven format with decision makers sharing a view that the Gulf, and Dubai in particular, has entered a new phase in its development as a private capital hub, which is being driven by strong macro fundamentals and a positive business environment.  Global investors are increasingly deploying at scale, allocating more of their portfolios and operations to regional financial centres, like DIFC. Confidence in the institutional ecosystem and the ability to access new liquidity pools is allowing them to target new markets and areas which include AI, data and climate innovation.

His Excellency Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer of DIFC Authority said: “The IPEM Future Preview demonstrated the confidence global investors place in DIFC as a platform for long-term capital. Bringing influential leaders together in Dubai reinforces our position at the centre of a rapidly transforming private markets landscape and sets the stage for even deeper collaboration as we prepare to host IPEM Future next year.”

The event also introduced the concept of Transformative Capital - how private markets are recalibrating after a period of volatility. The concept highlights a growing shift toward investments that combine financial performance with strategic long-term value, particularly in rapidly emerging and frontier technologies. These trends reflect the evolving priorities of sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors in the Gulf, who are increasingly directing capital toward these sectors due to their structural, long-duration growth potential. 

These findings were aligned to the insights from DIFC’s Future of Finance series, which identifies Dubai as a jurisdiction where long-term capital and high-growth opportunity reinforce one another – positioning the emirate as an increasingly influential centre for global private markets.

Antoine Colson, CEO & Managing Partner of IPEM said: “This event marks a new chapter in Dubai’s ambition to become a world leading global investment hub. By bringing together leading international decision-makers with major regional partners, IPEM and DIFC are creating a rare space for dialogue, collaboration, and long-term thinking, one that helps shape how innovation, technology, and global growth will be financed in the years ahead. It is also an opportunity to collectively explore how the world can mobilise capital to meet the planet’s most pressing needs, from sustainable development to technological progress.”

Executives who took part in the IPM Future Preview were also invited to join an evening programme which provided networking opportunities whilst showcasing Dubai’s heritage. Discussions from the event will inform the agenda for the inaugural IPEM Future Dubai 2026 on 13 and 14 May 2026. Taking place during Dubai Future Finance Week, IPEM Future Dubai will bring individually selected global executives to advance the international private markets ecosystem. Designed as a platform for strategy-setting, capital alignment and global partnership-building, the event will further consolidate Dubai’s position as one of the most influential centres for private capital, enabling investors and managers to shape the next decade of economic and technological transformation from the heart of the MEASA region.

Quotes from select industry leaders attending IPEM Preview

Dave Mullen, Partner, Pinegrove Venture Partners: “Identifying the next wave of enabling technologies and the best founders is not enough – scaling businesses is a core tenet of how innovation reaches the mainstream. Transformative capital, is therefore, hugely important as we think through the future of innovation.”

“When we think about the region and Dubai’s leadership and evolution and the broader innovation economy – the flow of capital, focus on talent development and innovation, and the ecosystem’s horizontal ecosystem, which enables networking and relationship-building from the top down – all enable technology to be pushed forward.” 

Sonia Weymuller, Co-founder & General Partner, VentureSouq: “Transformative capital is about building a mindset where you can create impact and generate financial returns at the same time. There is an opportunity for transformative capital to be both.”

“Along with being geographically, ideally positioned as a central hub for targeting peripheral regions and adjacent markets, Dubai and DIFC are also really thinking about how to best build the capital stack, attracting firms across different parts of the investment value chain.”
Kat Borlongan, Board Member, European Innovation Council: “The notion of transformative capital is important. Through it, we are actively investing in and shaping the future, instead of betting on it.”

“There is an alignment in Dubai’s diverse private capital ecosystem, since Dubai has been really great at setting a long-term vision that we are moving towards, as opposed to making short-term bets.”