Dubai, January 2016 – NOW Money (NOW), the new mobile money and remittance platform for the unbanked population of the UAE, has won the Gulf regional final of Chivas The Venture, a global search to find and support the next generation of start-ups that want to succeed while creating a better future for society, after both co-founders, Ian Dillon and Katharine Budd, presented a winning pitch to a panel of five judges.

The competition, which was hosted at the Marina Social, Intercontinental Dubai Marina in Dubai on 18th January 2017, invited four social start-up enterprises to pitch their business and the positive social impact it will have on society.

NOW was selected as the winner based not only on its ability to improve the lives of 26 million low-income migrant workers in the GCC countries by including them in the financial system, but it’s on its scalability too. The judges were impressed that NOW can provide the opportunity to create an inclusive financial ecosystem on a national, regional and global level and also combat financial crime.

NOW will represent The Gulf in the upcoming Chivas The Venture global final in Los Angeles in July 2017. The 30 finalists from across six continents will have a chance to pitch for a share of a $1 million fund in front of an expert panel of judges who are looking for businesses that can offer scalable and sustainable solutions to real world issues.