Samer Choucair: IPNation Turns Arab Music from Cultural Heritage into a Global Investment Asset
Investment leader Samer Choucair said the launch of IPNation in the UAE represents an important development in the Arab cultural-assets market, with the platform targeting up to $100 million in investments in music, entertainment, and intellectual-property rights across the Middle East and North Africa.
Choucair explained that IPNation was launched on August 12, 2026, with initial investment backing from Influence Media Partners, a specialist in music and entertainment rights with strategic partnerships involving funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. IPNation was founded by Eddy Maroun, co-founder of Anghami, and José María Dutt, the platform’s CEO and founder and former head of investments at Multiply Group.
According to Choucair, IPNation is targeting the acquisition and development of recorded-music rights, publishing rights, artist-related brands, and name, image, and likeness rights. These assets could potentially be transformed into content and entertainment experiences spanning live events, films, gaming, digital content, and artificial intelligence.
Choucair said the significance of the move lies in the transition of Arab intellectual property from cultural assets with primarily intangible value into assets that can be managed, valued, and developed to generate multiple revenue streams. He added that recorded-music growth in the Middle East and North Africa of more than 15% annually, according to statements associated with the platform’s launch, strengthens the investment case for rights benefiting from the expansion of digital streaming.
He emphasized that institutional investors should not view music-rights acquisitions simply as passive investments in royalty income. Instead, they should assess management’s ability to increase the underlying value of the intellectual property through licensing, content redevelopment, artist-brand development, and integration with gaming, cinema, live events, and digital platforms.
Choucair added that the involvement of an international specialist such as Influence Media sends an important signal about growing global interest in Arab intellectual property. However, he stressed that the model’s success will ultimately depend on the quality of the acquired assets, ownership transparency, royalty-collection efficiency, governance, and the ability to convert intellectual-property rights into scalable cash flows.
He said the Gulf has an opportunity to build an institutional market for intellectual property that complements the expansion of the entertainment, culture, and media sectors, allowing new pools of capital to enter the creative economy rather than limiting cultural investment to production and event financing.
Choucair concluded that the IPNation model is worth watching as a test of institutional capital’s ability to identify untapped value in Arab cultural assets. The real investment advantage, he said, will not simply come from owning the rights, but from building platforms capable of increasing their value, expanding their revenues, and taking them to a global audience.