Digital transformation provides the initial focus for a venture-led platform connecting Kurdish enterprise, research and talent with international technology, investment and global markets.
Newszy: DUBAI, UAE — Luma Ventures, a venture investment and innovation infrastructure firm based in the Dubai International Financial Centre, and the Kurdistan Innovation Institute (KII) have formalised a strategic cooperation to strengthen the commercial infrastructure supporting innovation, technology and investment in the Kurdistan Region.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in September at AIM Congress 2026 in Dubai by Soheib Masoud, Managing Director of Luma Ventures, and Dr Azad Najar, Chief Executive Officer of KII, in a ceremony facilitated by the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Board of Investment – Invest Kurdistan.
The cooperation provides a framework for developing a venture-led Future Economy Infrastructure Platform: a structured mechanism for identifying commercial opportunities in Kurdistan and bringing together technology providers, local operating partners, specialist expertise and investors to advance them. Its initial focus is digital transformation, with priority areas including financial technology, artificial intelligence and education technology.
Stefano Balestra, Chairman of Luma Ventures, said: “Technology creates lasting economic value when it becomes the foundation for businesses, capabilities and industries. The Kurdistan Region has the fundamentals: talent, enterprise and institutional commitment. Our cooperation with KII brings these strengths together with Luma ventures’ infrastructure model and international relationships. We are committed to building a commercial foundation that enables Kurdistan to capture more of the value created by technology and sustain it within the Region.”
The first joint initiative under the agreement is the Corporate Technology Commercialisation Pilot. Established Kurdish enterprises will define business challenges and work with local innovators, researchers, startups and international technology partners to develop, adapt and test solutions in operating environments. The pilot is designed to connect successful deployments with routes to commercialisation, including technology localisation, commercial partnerships and new ventures.
Soheib Masoud, Managing Director of Luma Ventures, said: “The opportunity for the Kurdistan Region is to take a greater commercial stake in the technologies shaping its economy. Realising that opportunity requires a clear commercial case: real demand, capable operating partners and a credible route to market. That discipline is at the centre of our work with KII. We bring international technology, venture development and investment together around ventures in which Kurdish enterprises can participate as operating partners and venture builders. We will measure success by the businesses built, the capabilities established within the Kurdistan Region and the innovation that reaches regional and international markets.”
Luma Ventures contributes its proprietary venture infrastructure and investment model, combining technology commercialisation, venture development, strategic partnerships, capital formation and international market access. Its international technology, investor and family office relationships support the assembly of partners and resources around individual opportunities.
KII, founded on the initiative of H.E. Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, provides the institutional and innovation anchor within the Region. Its relationships with universities, researchers, students and the public sector connect the cooperation to Kurdistan’s research and talent base, supporting the Region’s development as a knowledge-based economy.
For UAE-based and international technology companies and investors, the cooperation provides a framework for developing commercial opportunities alongside Kurdish enterprises. For local businesses, researchers and innovators, it creates pathways to participate in technology deployment, localisation and venture creation, with access to expertise, investment relationships and wider markets.
The broader objective is to strengthen Kurdistan’s capacity to localise technology, build businesses and industries around it, and increasingly bring locally developed innovation to regional and global markets.
The facilitation of the signing by Invest Kurdistan reflects the Kurdistan Regional Government’s broader drive to position the Region as a competitive destination for international investment and technology partnerships.
About Luma Ventures
Luma Ventures is a venture investment and innovation infrastructure firm based in the Dubai International Financial Centre, focused on building and investing in businesses and digital economy platforms across emerging markets. Working with governments, corporates and international technology partners, Luma Ventures connects corporate demand with technology, capital and execution to develop and scale ventures and ecosystems across artificial intelligence, financial technology, digital assets and digital infrastructure.
About Kurdistan Innovation Institute
Kurdistan Innovation Institute (KII) supports research, innovation, entrepreneurship and talent development in the Kurdistan Region. Through its innovation ecosystem and relationships with universities, researchers, students and the public sector, KII works to advance the Region’s development as a knowledge-based economy.