As part of the Innovation Programme partnership, Abu Dhabi Investment Office has awarded StarzPlay competitive financial incentives.
SVOD platform StarzPlay has partnered with Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), to establish the company’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi. At the time of going to press, we were not able to receive confirmation on whether StarzPlay will retain its operations at Dubai Studio City.
The partnership is part of ADIO’s AED 2bn (USD 545m) Innovation Programme, an initiative of the Abu Dhabi government’s Ghadan 21 accelerator programme.
Establishing its headquarters in Abu Dhabi with ADIO’s support will enable StarzPlay to further strengthen the production of regionally relevant original content for its audiences.
Commenting on the partnership, Dr Tariq Bin Hendi, Director General of ADIO, said: “Abu Dhabi’s creative sector is rapidly taking shape with significant government investment, a steady flow of skilled talent and sound infrastructure to fuel the ambitions of creators and businesses. The media industry is coming together with a cohesive and elevated offering to welcome and support companies from all around the world. As a long-term partner, we are here to help businesses aligned with our vision and fast-track their progress through support for R&D, while ensuring they are suitably equipped to grow sustainably on the global stage.”
From its headquarters in Abu Dhabi, StarzPlay will ramp up partnerships with the city’s vibrant media and creative ecosystem to offer exclusive, in-demand entertainment to its subscribers. Building on existing cooperation with entities such as Abu Dhabi Media, twofour54 and Image Nation Abu Dhabi, StarzPlay will partner with local production houses and animation studios to produce original content, especially relevant for the region’s largest demographic, the 200m Arab youth.
As part of the strategic partnership with ADIO, StarzPlay will build a cutting-edge, next-generation private cloud in Abu Dhabi to meet the growing consumer demand in the region. StarzPlay will also offer its private cloud to other media companies as a fully managed and turnkey over-the-top (OTT) solution.
Maaz Sheikh, CEO and Co-Founder of StarzPlay, said: “With our new headquarters in Abu Dhabi, we are excited about producing more original content through enhanced media partnerships. Further, building the new cloud facility will bring us closer to our fans to serve them with a richer and more personalised experience. These are pivotal steps in our evolution as a regional tech and media champion and we are grateful to ADIO for supporting our strategic growth vision.”
As part of the Innovation Programme partnership, ADIO has awarded StarzPlay competitive financial incentives, including rebates on high-skilled payroll, technology-related capital expenditure and other operating expenditure, as well as non-financial incentives, such as assistance with company establishment and engagement with Abu Dhabi ecosystem partners.
UAE-founded StarzPlay provides premium content to its over 1.8m subscribers in 20 countries, including movies, exclusive TV shows, kids content and Arabic series.
