From his first days as a pharmacist in Abu Dhabi to reaching heights such as chairman of multi-billion-dollar companies such as NMC Health, BRS Ventures, and Finablr, Shetty’s journey is nothing but spectacular. One of the most influential business moguls in Dubai, Shetty’s vision has changed the face of health care, finance, and retail sectors in the region and puts him in a list among the world’s top billionaires.

Born in India as Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, he entered the United Arab Emirates in the 1970s as a pharmacy-educated man with a dream. His early days were in the health sector as a pharmacist, only to realize that there was a dire need for quality medical services in the booming economy of the UAE. Realizing this need, he founded NMC Health in Abu Dhabi, and with what started as an earlier modest medical practice, it has evolved into a healthcare conglomerate and the first healthcare company from the UAE to be listed on the London Stock Exchange. A vision for the needs of the region and a commitment to excellence marked Shetty as an entrepreneurial leader, and NMC Health soon became one of the most reliable names in healthcare across the UAE.

Health was not to be Shetty’s only venture. After marking success in NMC Health, Shetty extended his interests further through BRS Ventures, a holding company overseeing investment in such sectors as education, retail, and hospitality. His entrepreneurial spirit further led him to the founding of Finablr, a financial services platform consolidating numerous remittances and exchange services, including well-known brands such as UAE Exchange and Xpress Money. Diversification into financial services also came at the right time to capture growth in the UAE as a global financial and banking hub.

Shetty, through Finablr, was providing critical financial services to the large expatriate community in the UAE so that they could easily send money back home to their families. This further helped Shetty secure his reputation as a business leader who understood and addressed the needs of the region.

Shetty has stepped into pharma, hospitality, IT, and advertisement. The pharmaceutical venture of his called Neopharma is a research-based production house that allowed Shetty to contribute to bettering the medical treatment of the Middle East. BRS Ventures supports a lot of diversified industries, thus showcasing the commitment of Shetty toward venturing into places that could contribute to community development. All these businesses add up to create Shetty’s portfolio as an influencer in the UAE.

The wide range of businesses Shetty has entailed in his business empire is really a testament to the versatile entrepreneurial skills he possesses. From life-saving medicines to financial services, the portfolio that characterizes Shetty’s offerings tackles needed necessities and manifests his unique ability to transform market challenges into opportunities.

It is the knowledge that has brought B.R. Shetty huge success, as seen in him when he is called the most influential businessman in the Middle East. Of course, like any front figure in the business world, he has not been immune to many ups and downs. His is the story of the highs and lows of creating a global conglomerate from scratch.

Shetty has always given back to society, not only in the UAE but also in India. He is involved in numerous charitable efforts and community service projects, often focusing on healthcare, education, and social welfare. His philanthropic work reflects his commitment to improving lives and creating a legacy that goes beyond mere profit.

TECOM Group has led Dubai’s vision in becoming a global business, innovation, and technology hub. Originating as a subsidiary of Dubai Holding, a Government of Dubai-owned company, TECOM Group emerged as an independent publicly traded business entity listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) under the symbol “TECOM” since 2022. The Group has successfully developed and managed several business districts catering to various industries providing high-quality infrastructure and services for start-ups and global corporations alike.

TECOM has played a significant role in the development of key business hubs, such as Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio City, and Dubai Science Park. Most companies, from the media giant to tech innovators, have moved into these districts due to strategic location, world-class infrastructure, and a thriving business ecosystem.

Diversification with TECOM Group is business district development at its very best-in that each of the ten business hubs around which the company has developed focuses on specific types of industry, fostering environments favourable to growth, creativity, and collaboration. Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City are international business destinations for companies involved in tech and media, while the Dubai Design District, or d3, is at the heart of Dubai’s emerging design sector.

Not only does TECOM Group target high-demand sectors such as technology and media, but it has also invested in sectors like education, science, and manufacturing. Dubai International Academic City and Dubai Industrial City are central to this strategy, boasting world-class infrastructure for educational institutions and industrial players. In fact, TECOM Group strategy is anchored around a commitment to innovation and sustainability. In 2013 the Group undertook an ambitious innovation strategy worth AED 4.5 billion with the intent of driving entrepreneurship, and creating an ecosystem, of start-up as well as tech companies. Creative spaces, smart buildings, innovation labs, and business incubators make up this much larger program.

TECOM has also invested much of its energy into nurturing talent and supporting the growth of local and regional businesses. Its partnerships with international tech moguls, coupled with attention to creating co-working and collaboration spaces, have helped make TECOM a leader for fostering technological advancement and creative industries within the Middle East.

The public listing of TECOM Group on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) in July 2022 represents a significant milestone in the development journey for this company. An IPO was raised for $1.67 billion, and TECOM is now much better placed to expand its business districts and continue facilitating innovation in sectors far more extensive than it started with. The IPO successfully enhanced investor confidence in Dubai’s real estate and business infrastructure and also focused the strategic importance of TECOM within the emirate’s economic future.

Sustainability forms part of their commitment in collaborations with various UAE government entities: TECOM Group has been involved in close cooperation with the UAE’s Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MOIAT) on decarbonisation; playing a big role in shaping the region’s future transportation and logistics through the development of a freight terminal for Etihad Rail, the national railway project of the UAE.

Zankevich wields this unusual gamut of analogue and digital collage-making with aplomb, concocting paintings that manage to balance between striking visuals and technologically astute innovative thinking. Now that her works are being sold as NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, she’s redefining not just the creation of art, but its very value in this digital age. It reflects Ivana’s art for tradition coupled with innovation that is truly irresistible to collectors and art lovers alike.

While art has always been about pushing the boundaries, Ivana Zankevich sees it essentially as an act of blurring them. Based in the UAE, she is a digital and analogue collage artist who has mastered this delicate craft of merging these two forms into cohesive, animated masterpieces. A single style, her work arrests attention not only for aesthetic beauty but more so for the reason that it can fuse together elements from different worlds, both physical and digital.

Collage historically comes from the beginning of the avant-garde through Dadaism and Surrealism movements, which is often characterized by the physical layering of the material such as paper, photos, and textiles. Zankevich has taken this more traditional approach and modernized it by incorporating digital techniques into his work. The analogical work of hers is about the careful composition and layering of textures, colors, and themes, while her digital work enhances those layers, adding often motion or subtle animation that gives life to static imagery. Such an innovative blend of old and new imbues her artwork with a distinctive character, and one cannot go without noticing it. With every piece, Zankevich brings into life a story-something which speaks deeply of the two mediums she has chosen. The result is a vibrant, ever-changing art piece: one that plays with perception and asks the viewer for an idea beyond the canvas.

Ivana Zankevich’s jump into NFTs opened new avenues for both creative expression and commercial success. NFTs are a form of digital assets using Blockchain technology in proving ownership and the authenticity of unique pieces of art. Zankevich pioneers a new form of artistic expression by employing NFT technology to turn her digital collages into works where traditional forms of art meet cutting-edge technology. It places her practice within a global audience and gives it a place in the booming NFT market. Whereas traditional art exists in galleries or on personal walls, NFTs allow her works to continue living on digital platforms, accessible to collectors and art lovers from around the world. This ensures that her art will stay relevant in today’s digital age and sets a new precedent for how collage art could be both consumed and valued.

The creative process is really detailed and multi-faceted for Zankevich. First, she creates an analogue collage by layering different textures, photographs, and materials in such a way that provides the base composition. The striking feature of her attention to detail is how she selects every element with care, be it a fragment of a photograph or torn, vintage paper. Once the physical collage is prepared, Zankevich digitizes the work by using digital means of enhancing and animating the piece. In one stroke, the digital element brings a whole new level of complexity to the art: dynamic features that would have been impossible in an entirely analogue medium, like movement and depth. The animation in her works often brings the characters or objects of the collage to life, jumping off the screen or making more subtle shifts in their environment.

Themes of identity, memory, and time consistently find their place in her works, making her art intellectually engaging and, at the same time, memorable to the viewer. Her use of digital elements lends layers of meaning to her collages as she examines how technology intersects with human emotion and memory.

The UAE has grown more into a modern art hub, mostly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Due to the very diverse population and culture in the UAE, it offers a ground for experimentation and innovation for artists like Zankevich. Its commitment to fostering artistic talent and embracing digital transformations wholeheartedly has made it an ideal place for this hybrid form of art to take root. Having the base in the UAE, Zankevich enjoys the company of progressive-thinking artists, collectors, and galleries open to digital and NFT art. It was also the rich UAE art scene that gave her the opportunity to present her works in a number of prestigious venues and exhibitions to solidify her status as an important figure in the landscape of contemporary art.

The future holds limitless possibilities for Ivana Zankevich. Remaining at the crest of this shift in artistic evolvement, the line between digital and physical art will continue to blur. Zankevich brings a more evolved definition to collage art, perhaps, because he links analogue collage techniques with those using digital tools so effortlessly. Her foray into the NFT market is but the beginning of a larger trend, where artists employ technologies not only to enhance their creative auspices but to challenge the very way art is valued and consumed. Whether in physical galleries or digital spaces, Ivana Zankevich’s work continues to leave onlookers in awe, forcing many to reconsider common understandings of art in an increasingly shifting world. Since the world of NFTs is still growing, Zankevich’s creative approach has made sure that her work will be timely and enjoyed for years to come.

Able to marry the best of both worlds, traditional collage and most advanced methods in digital, Ivana Zankevich is indeed an artist to be watched. Her work challenges the boundaries of mediums not only in art but also pushes the conversation regarding our perception and valuation of art in the digital age.