UAE DAMAC Group under D-Labs to invest 100 million USD in metaverse

UAE Damac Group, under D-Labs to invest 100 million USD in digital cities in the metaverse utilizing NFTs.

The group will be run under the banner, D-Labs’, and will be led by Ali Sajwani, the CEO of D-Labs and DAMAC General Manager. In Februrary of 2022, Sajwani had announced that they would be launching metaverse and NFTs soon.

The initiative forms part of the company-wide ambitions to move into digital assets and NFT ( non fungible tokens. In his new role as CEO, Sajwani has been tasked to deliver the organization's goal of being a leading global digital brand.

On the strategic move, Founder Hussain Sajwani said: "In an attempt to mold to the progressive trends of business, we are expanding our offerings into the metaverse realm to avail of the many opportunities it presents. We are keen to pioneer the possibilities that the metaverse offers in ways which allow us to be more connected and involved with our customers and their interests."

"Over the past two years we have been aggressively driving our digitisation efforts, and this new initiative into the metaverse will only further leverage our digital footprint," remarked Sajwani.

Since last year, the group’s real estate arm, Damac Properties has been offering home buyers a 3D virtual experience that utilises virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology.

This is a stepping stone into the metaverse realm, considered to be a digital universe made up of VR, AR and extended reality (XR) that refers to ‘all real-and-virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions generated by computer technology and wearables’ where users can get the feel of ‘living’ an experience.

"As well as updating our systems, processes and operations across departments, we have been investing in building a strong team of skilled and talented experts to help support our ambitions of being a digital leader," stated Sajwani.

Through this move, DAMAC Group hopes to branch out its services to cater to the needs of the entire Group when it comes to digital assets – ranging from virtual homes, digital property, as well as digital wearables, and digital jewelry through the company’s acquisitions of Swiss jewelers de-Grisogono, and Italian fashion brand Roberto Cavalli, respectively.

"Digital experiences is also part of the offering, where guests will be able to get a virtual treat of the Mandarin Oriental Resort Bolidhuffaru, which is part of the Group’s hotels, resorts and serviced apartments portfolio, "We plan to continue this exercise, and expand our team and know-how," explained Ali Sajwani.

DAMAC Properties recently announced that it will be accepting crypto payments as well.