FinTech World Cup Regional Competition India’s RealX and Sri Lanka’s NanoSoft Global named as joint winners

From a pearling village to a global financial powerhouse, Dubai continues to demonstrate resilience amid regional geopolitical challenges

• Competition held at Port City Colombo

The Fintech Association of Sri Lanka has announced that RealX and NanoSoft Global have emerged as the joint winners of the FinTech World Cup – Regional Competition, following the current round of international jury evaluations conducted after the competition held at Port City Colombo.

Held on March 31, 2026, the competition convened fintech start-ups, financial institutions, investors, regulators and policymakers, reinforcing Colombo’s growing role within a global innovation ecosystem leading toward Dubai FinTech Summit 2026, where the winning start-up will advance to the global grand finale.

Organised by the Fintech Association of Sri Lanka in strategic partnership with Port City Colombo, the Regional Competition forms part of the global FinTech World Cup — organised by Trescon and powered by Ignyte — connecting high-growth fintech ventures with international markets, capital and strategic partnerships.

The competition featured a curated FinTech Innovation Showcase highlighting global and regional innovators, including:

• RealX — an India-based platform focused on fractional real estate investment and real-world asset tokenisation
• SUNTRUST Digital Innovations — delivering enterprise digital transformation solutions
• NanoSoft Global — providing digital banking platforms for co-operative financial institutions

The programme was further strengthened by an international jury panel comprising:

• World Alliance of International Financial Centres Managing Director Jochen Biedermann
• GFTN Japan co-founder and CEO Takeshi Kito 
• FinStep Asia Founder and Managing Director Syed Musheer Ahmed 
• Former IBM Global Research Lead Nicholas Drury 
• Global Finance and Technology Network CEO Pat Patel 
• Singapore Fintech Association Founding President Chia Hock Lai 

The global grand finale will take place during Dubai FinTech Summit 2026, now scheduled for November 2-3, 2026, at Madinat Jumeirah, following the rescheduling of the summit, due to the ongoing geopolitical tensions affecting parts of the Middle East region.

Held under the patronage of Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the UAE and President of DIFC, the summit is expected to convene some of the world’s most disruptive minds in finance, artificial intelligence, digital assets and financial technology.

The event also reflects Dubai’s remarkable transformation over the past century — from a modest trading port and pearling village along the Arabian Gulf into one of the world’s leading global financial, logistics, tourism and technology hubs. 

Today, Dubai continues to position itself at the forefront of digital economy innovation, fintech, artificial intelligence and future finance infrastructure connecting Asia, the Middle East, Africa and global markets.