Zest Equity Secures ADGM Licence to Revolutionise Private-Market Transactions

Editorial Team

Last updated 4-12-2025

3 min

Zest Equity secured regulatory permission in Abu Dhabi to enhance digital infrastructure for private transactions.

The platform streamlines steps, integrating SPVs and a digital-first escrow service.

Co‑founder Zuhair Shamma insists automation is overdue, aiming to modernise outdated manual workflows.

Zest Equity has executed over USD 210 million in deals across more than 160 transactions.

Plans to expand infrastructure may eliminate bottlenecks, improving capital flow across jurisdictions.

Zest Equity has picked up a fresh regulatory win in Abu Dhabi, securing a Financial Services Permission from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at ADGM. It’s a move that the company says will help it stitch together a more unified digital infrastructure for private‑market transactions—something the sector, frankly, has been crying out for. I’ve seen enough startups across the region, through Arageek and beyond, to know that manual deal processes can be a bit of a faff, especially when money needs to move across borders with confidence.

The UAE‑based firm has built its platform as an end‑to‑end system that replaces old, fragmented steps with a digital layer covering everything from forming SPVs to a new regulated, digital‑first escrow service. According to the company, this should make life easier for investors and operators who often juggle scattered documentation, governance requirements, and fund movement. One part that caught my eye is how they’re blending execution tools with escrow and distribution pathways under a single regulated umbrella—spot on for anyone tired of hopping between service providers.

Zuhair Shamma, the company’s co‑founder and CEO, put it rather bluntly in his comments, saying private markets have been held back for far too long by outdated, manual workflows. His view is that standardisation and automation are overdue, and that this new licence helps push the industry into the future. On the flip side, regulatory permissions alone don’t solve every issue in private capital flows, but I reckon they do give firms like this the chance to operate with far more clarity.

Co‑founder Rawan Baddour added that the permission is just the first in a line of regulatory milestones the team is working toward as they expand the platform. And believe it or not, Zest Equity has already processed more than USD 210 million in deal execution digitally, across more than 160 private‑market transactions. Their backers include Prosus Ventures, Morgan Stanley, MEVP, and the Dubai Future District Fund—quite a mix of global and regional capital.

ADGM’s role as a common‑law, internationally recognised financial hub continues to draw fintech and infra players like this, and Zest’s regulatory approval feeds into that narrative. For founders building in the region, it’s another sign of how the Gulf is trying to modernise capital markets in a very real way. I remember chatting with a group of early‑stage entrepreneurs once who joked that managing private deals felt like assembling flat‑pack furniture without instructions… well, maybe platforms like Zest can finally change that.

The company says it plans to extend its institutional‑grade infrastructure to more markets, helping clients move capital more smoothly across jurisdictions. If they deliver on that, it could clear some long‑standing bottlenecks—though we’ll have to wait and see how it plays out in practise.

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