Fintech Zest Equity Launches Zest Arrange and Zest Escrow

WHY THIS MATTERS:

Private markets are scaling rapidly across the Middle East, but the infrastructure supporting them has traditionally lagged behind public markets. Transactions often require manual coordination across lawyers, administrators, escrow agents, compliance teams, and banks—driving higher operational costs, slower execution, and increased counterparty risk.

Zest Equity’s launch of Zest Arrange and Zest Escrow, both regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), represents a structural shift toward institutional-grade private market infrastructure in the region.

Zest Equity, a digital transactional infrastructure company backed by Morgan Stanley, Prosus Ventures, Middle East Venture Partners and Dubai Future District Fund, announced the launch of Zest Arrange, its Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) regulated arranging service which supports deal makers in private transactions end-to-end on Zest’s platform through a digital workflow. The company also announced the rollout of Zest Escrow, its regulated digital escrow service, following its Financial Services Permission (FSP) from the FSRA of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).

Zest Arrange and Zest Escrow join Zest SPVs to create an infrastructure layer for private market transactions. Deal makers can now leverage the different tools and execute deals through a single platform, organizing, monitoring and tracking of commitments and execution steps.

Zest Arrange, the firm’s flagship solution, enables arranging of private asset deals for its network of deal makers through Zest’s FSRA arranging deals in investments licensed activity. The service consolidates investor onboarding, documentation, and execution into a single digital workflow, supporting transactions under ADGM’s regulatory framework. Through this solution, deal makers maintain visibility and confidence in their  private transactions end-to-end.

Zest Escrow provides FSRA-regulated escrow services that safeguard transaction funds as a neutral third party through Zest’s FSRA Providing Money Services licensed activity. Client monies are held in segregated, UAE-based bank accounts and released only upon authorized instruction once pre-agreed conditions are satisfied. The service reduces counterparty risk while ensuring transaction governance through complete audit trails, traceable documentation, and real-time status visibility. 

Alongside these offerings, Zest SPVs streamline the formation and maintenance of special purpose vehicles, allowing deal makers to group their  investors into clean investment structures for private market transactions. Built on Zest’s proven track record, the service enables digital SPV closings across a range of asset classes within private markets. 

“The real power is in the integration: one platform, three capabilities working together,” said Zuhair Shamma, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Zest Equity. “Here’s how it works in practice: A recent deal used Zest Arrange to market an exclusive opportunity to investors. An SPV was structured to group participants and meet minimum ticket requirements, then Zest Escrow was used to securely receive the funds. This is what frictionless, secure, automated private market transactions look like: everything you need to design deals, meet investor requirements, and close faster with full regulatory compliance and institutional clarity.”

Rawan Baddour, Co-founder of Zest Equity, said: “We are seeing incredible growth in private markets transactions across the region, driven by an increasingly innovative regulatory environment. Zest’s platform helps streamline and fast-track capital movement in safe ways. Our platform serves this growing ecosystem by making cross-border, multi-party transactions easier to execute with confidence and clarity for all parties involved.”

Private market operations cost exponentially more than public market equivalents. According to recent industry benchmarks, automation can reclaim up to 80% of staff hours currently lost to administrative tasks. For institutional portfolios, the impact is measurable: eliminating just 30 basis points of operational cost on a $5B portfolio adds $150M in long-term net returns over a typical fund lifecycle. Zest’s digital infrastructure directly addresses this inefficiency, enabling deal makers to execute transactions that previously required extensive legal, compliance, and administrative coordination, at a fraction of the traditional cost and time.

To date, Zest Equity has supported the execution of more than USD 230 million across 190+ deals, spanning private equity, private credit, venture capital, and related asset classes, with repeat participation from fund managers, family offices, venture firms, corporate service providers, and institutional investors.

FF NEWS TAKE:

Zest is positioning itself as the “operating system” for private markets in the region.

The real differentiator is not any single product—it’s the integration. Arrange. SPV. Escrow. One platform. Fully regulated. That combination transforms private deal execution from a fragmented legal process into a digitized workflow.

This move also reflects a broader regional theme: ADGM is emerging as a regulatory sandbox and launchpad for private capital infrastructure innovation. By anchoring its services within FSRA permissions, Zest isn’t just offering efficiency—it’s offering institutional legitimacy.

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