Growth Ensemble, the specialist growth firm connecting startups, investors, and government agencies across the Gulf and Southeast Asia, has announced the opening of its Dubai office and the establishment of its international headquarters in the UAE.
Founder and Managing Partner Meredith Carson has relocated to Dubai, returning to a region where she spent 12 years advising iconic regional and international brands and some of the GCC's most forward-thinking government entities across the Middle East.
Co-Founder and Managing Partner Adam Flinter, an ecosystem builder with clients across more than a dozen markets spanning the Gulf and Southeast Asia, remains headquartered in Singapore, ensuring the firm maintains dual-market, C-level leadership across the corridor.
Carson and Flinter's partnership began 17 years ago in the region, and their combined understanding of both markets forms the foundation of Growth Ensemble's corridor practice.
Economic and AI Ambitions Create an Inflection Point
Since its founding in 2023, the firm has been supporting scaleups, venture capital firms, government-linked companies, and local government agencies across both regions, with a particular focus on the growth and development of AI-powered businesses moving between the GCC and Southeast Asia.
The Dubai office is established at a moment of extraordinary regional momentum. The Dubai Economic Agenda D33, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, sets out to double the size of Dubai's economy by 2033 and consolidate its position among the top three global cities.
The (GCC-ASEAN) corridor is one of the most significant opportunities in global business. Having both founders permanently on the ground, in both markets, is what conviction looks like in practice.
— Meredith Carson, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Growth Ensemble
The UAE AI Strategy 2031 positions the country as a global AI hub, with sovereign wealth funds and government entities among the most active AI investors in the world.
At the same time, the GCC-SEA corridor is gaining structural weight: total ASEAN-GCC trade reached $130.7 billion in 2023, against a jointly agreed target of $180 billion by 2032, with $50 billion in new trade flows projected by 2027. The 2nd ASEAN-GCC Summit in Kuala Lumpur in May 2025 saw leaders launch formal FTA negotiations between the two blocs for the first time.
Strategy and Execution Across the GCC and Southeast Asia
Growth Ensemble operates across four pillars: AI-enabled marketing, fractional CMO and CGO leadership, market entry, and fundraising and investor relations. The firm works hands-on with clients from strategy through execution. In the GCC, the firm focuses on helping regional businesses access Southeast Asian markets, and on bringing AI scaleups and investors from SEA into the GCC.
"The GCC and Southeast Asia share a business culture built on relationships, trust, and long-term thinking. Growth Ensemble was founded on that observation, and on the conviction that the corridor is one of the most significant opportunities in global business. Having both founders permanently on the ground, in both markets, is what that conviction looks like in practice," said Meredith Carson, Founder and Managing Partner, Growth Ensemble.
Adam Flinter, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Growth Ensemble, added: "The GCC and Southeast Asia are very different markets, unified by shared values: a relationship-first approach to business, long-term thinking, and a real appetite to build something that endures.
“Southeast Asia is complex, context-driven, and deeply rewarding for businesses that approach it correctly. The GCC is the same. We understand what preparation looks like across both markets, and what the cost of skipping it is. That knowledge is what we bring to every engagement."
Growth Ensemble
19 May 2026
