The convergence of AI and blockchain. My next guest runs a fund that believes that convergence will provide a number of investment opportunities. I am very excited to welcome to the show Dara Campbell, Managing Partner and Senior Executive Officer of Hashgraph Ventures. Dara, thank you so much for joining us today.
It is a pleasure to be here.
Hashgraph Ventures is based here in ADGM. Could you share the thesis of the fund?
We are a venture capital fund, fully regulated here with the FSRA. Our thesis is early stage, focused on blockchain and AI. When I say early stage, predominantly seed — though we do look at some Series A. We like to lead rounds. The thing about AI and blockchain is it moves so quickly and we are super impatient — we do not want to hang about and wait for consensus. We have started to deploy and made several investments this year. The verticals within blockchain and AI include healthcare, telco, infrastructure, AI rollups, and physical AI. A lot of VCs, particularly in the crypto and blockchain space, have vacated the building. That is a positive because we have a bit more time to fill rounds — but we do not want to waste time either. In terms of geographies, we are predominantly focused on the US and the UAE — and there is a real reason for that.
Who is actually using this technology today versus a few years ago?
A couple of years ago we had the generalists — speculators and hobbyists. Then traders and engineers. Fast forward to today — everyone uses it. My 89 year old grandmother uses it. My kids use it on a daily basis. CEOs, banks, professional service firms — anyone from A to Z. And one of the key reasons why we are here in Abu Dhabi is from a stats perspective. The UAE has 71% usage in terms of its population. Compare that with the rest of the world — the global average is 18%. So the UAE is in a completely different category. That is one of the main reasons we want to be here.
How has AI shifted your investment focus over the last year?
We launched the fund in December 2025. We outlined from the beginning this is an AI and blockchain focused fund. A lot of funds have pivoted away completely from crypto to focus solely on AI — that is not the case for us. AI as a sector has matured and it moves so quickly. Now we are looking at physical AI — the guys who build phenomenal software, they need to own the hardware. That is the natural progression. We are also looking at AI rollups. And we are looking at the back end — compute, data centre costs, chips, just running the thing in general. There are arbitrage opportunities there because as things currently stand, the world cannot use AI simultaneously. It does not have the power, the money, or the electricity. The picks-and-shovels in the background are what we are actively exploring and deploying capital into.
You also focus on backing high-performing Emirati founders. What are you seeing in the local ecosystem?
We are inspired on a daily basis by how fast this region moves. The analogy I like to use is — this country is 52, 53 years old. Look at it as a pre-seed startup 53 years ago. The growth has been substantial and phenomenal — and that rubs off on people. What I am seeing in the market is a shift away from an employee mindset toward a risk-first mindset. What AI has enabled is giving young entrepreneurs the opportunity to build a company in three weeks as opposed to three years. The UAE had AI ministers from 2017. It was so ahead of the curve. There is a great foundation in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and the wider UAE.
Tell us about the US-UAE investment corridor that sets Hashgraph Ventures apart.
Our investment team is small — I am based here in the UAE, our venture partner is in Canada, and our two other investment team members are based in New York and Chicago. I have worked with US startups for the last six to eight years. What we are seeing is that the US — and some would argue China — are masters at building the technology. The UAE, with 71% AI usage, is a master at utilising that technology. What we want to do is fund the world's greatest companies and funnel them directly to the region that is utilising that technology to its utmost. We also have a sister company, the Hashgraph Group, based in Switzerland, with enterprise relationships with large corporations here. The entry point to run a pilot with an enterprise based in the UAE is a much more seamless operation than the US — you can get in. It might be difficult to get out. But it is the complete opposite of the US when it comes to integration with big enterprise.
Thank you very much, Dara, for joining us today.
Thank you so much, Lucy. Thank you for having me.
