Growth Ensemble opens Dubai office to bridge GCC and ASEAN markets

By AI, Created 6:28 AM UTC, May 19, 2026, /AGP/ – Growth Ensemble has expanded into Dubai while keeping its Singapore base, giving the advisory firm a permanent senior presence in both hubs as ASEAN-GCC trade and investment ties deepen. The move is aimed at helping startups, investors and agencies navigate cross-border growth across a corridor that now includes formal free-trade talks and rising trade targets.

Why it matters: - Growth Ensemble is positioning itself in two of the corridor’s key business centers at a moment when ASEAN and GCC ties are moving from ambition to implementation. - The expansion gives clients senior support in both Southeast Asia and the Gulf for market entry, fundraising and dealmaking. - The firm is targeting a region where total ASEAN-GCC trade reached $130.7 billion in 2023 and where leaders have set a $180 billion target by 2032.

What happened: - Growth Ensemble opened a Dubai office and said the move deepens its presence across the GCC-ASEAN corridor. - Founder and Managing Partner Meredith Carson is relocating to the UAE. - Co-Founder and Managing Partner Adam Flinter remains based in Singapore, where Growth Ensemble was founded. - The firm said it now has a permanent senior presence in both Singapore and Dubai.

The details: - Growth Ensemble works with startups, venture capital firms, family offices and government agencies. - The firm’s services include commercial strategy, market entry, brand and marketing, fractional mandates, fundraising readiness, and cross-regional deal facilitation. - Growth Ensemble has a particular focus on bringing AI companies into MENA and helping GCC technology companies enter Southeast Asia. - Carson and Flinter said they bring nearly 40 years of combined in-market experience across ASEAN and the GCC. - Carson worked across MENA for 12 years before moving to Singapore in 2020. - Flinter has been based in Singapore since 2011 after eight years in the Middle East. - The company’s website is Growth Ensemble. - At the 2nd ASEAN-GCC Summit in Kuala Lumpur in May 2025, leaders launched formal free-trade agreement negotiations between the two blocs for the first time. - The summit also endorsed a cooperation framework covering trade, investment, the digital economy and supply chain resilience. - New trade flows are projected to reach $50 billion by 2027.

Between the lines: - The expansion reflects a broader bet that ASEAN-GCC business links are entering a more structured phase, with policy alignment starting to match commercial interest. - Growth Ensemble is marketing proximity and regional experience as a differentiator for clients that need trusted advisors on both sides of the corridor. - The move also signals that boutique advisory firms see rising demand for hands-on help as capital, technology and trade routes connect the two regions more tightly.

What’s next: - Growth Ensemble will use its Dubai and Singapore footprint to support clients expanding between Southeast Asia and the Gulf. - The firm is likely to lean on its dual-market setup as ASEAN-GCC trade talks and investment flows develop over the next several years. - Carson and Flinter said the expansion is meant to give scaleups and investors senior, embedded advisors with decades of in-market experience.

The bottom line: - Growth Ensemble is betting that the GCC-ASEAN corridor is becoming a real growth market, and it is now staffed to operate from both ends of it.