Founder library
Practical notes on ADGM formation, cap tables, KYC, tax filings, and the official portals you will actually use. This is briefing material — not a legal or tax opinion.
Use the guides to prepare a file before you speak to us. Use the official links to read the source rules. Use the checklists so the first draft of your pack is complete.
How to use this library
Pick the vehicle
Tech Startup licence if you will operate a technology business. SPV if you need a holding or investment wrapper. Do not force one into the other.
Assemble the pack
Names, activities, shareholders, directors, UBO chart, passports, proof of address, and a registered-office path. Missing KYC is what stalls an application — not the form itself.
Keep the books honest
One cap table, one share register, professional fees separate from government pass-through. Tax outcomes stay with the Federal Tax Authority.
Official portals
Read the regulator first. Nomux does not replace ADGM, the Registration Authority, or the Federal Tax Authority.
ADGM
Jurisdiction home: companies, courts, and how the financial free zone is organised.
Registration Authority
The registrar for incorporation, licences, and government-related services in ADGM.
Online Registry Solution
ADGM’s portal to apply, maintain a company, and search the public register.
ADGM eServices
Index of client portals, including government services such as visas and permits.
Federal Tax Authority
Corporate tax registration, returns, and the current published rules.
UAE corporate tax overview
Federal explainer on who is in scope and where to start. Confirm details on tax.gov.ae.
File checklists
ADGM application pack
- 1Two or three proposed company names and the licence type (Tech Startup or SPV).
- 2Business activity wording that matches what you will actually do — not a wish list.
- 3Shareholders with percentages that add to 100%, plus a simple ownership chart.
- 4Proposed directors and their roles. At least one individual director is typical.
- 5Colour passport copies, proof of residential address, and a short CV for each individual.
- 6Ultimate beneficial owners (usually anyone at 25% or more, plus control).
- 7Registered office path inside ADGM (flexi-desk or office the RA will accept).
- 8Source-of-funds note if the registrar or a bank later asks for it.
Investor data-room starter
- 1Certificate of incorporation, licence, and current articles or resolutions.
- 2Share register and a cap table that matches it — including option pool reserved vs issued.
- 3Shareholders’ agreement or a note that one does not exist yet.
- 4IP assignment from founders into the company, if the product already exists.
- 5Director and shareholder KYC pack, kept current.
- 6Material contracts, employment offers, and any convertible instruments.
- 7Latest management accounts or a simple cash runway, labelled as unaudited if they are.
- 8A one-page structure chart if there is more than one entity.
Guides
Formation
ADGM SPVs: what they are and when founders actually need one
A holding or investment wrapper under English common law — not a shortcut operating company, and not a tax holiday by itself.
Open guide →ADGM Tech Startup licence: scope, documents, and visas
An operating licence for technology activity — visas and a registered office sit beside it, and Hub71 or VC access is not included in the form.
Open guide →ADGM, another free zone, or mainland — how we choose
Nomux is ADGM-first. Other zones are scoped per file when the activity, visas, or customers force it — not because a logo looks good on a slide.
Open guide →ADGM or DIFC — which common-law centre
Two English-common-law financial centres. Different registrars, different holding-company rules, one client workspace.
Open guide →Ownership
Cap table hygiene before a priced round
One ledger that matches the share register. Spreadsheets fail when SAFEs, options, and side letters diverge.
Open guide →Employee options in an ADGM company
A pool is a reservation. A grant is a contract. Tax follows the employee’s facts — not the slide that says 10%.
Open guide →Operations
KYC, directors, and UBO for an ADGM file
Incomplete identity packs stall more applications than name reservations. Collect people first, then forms.
Open guide →Registered office and physical presence in ADGM
Every ADGM company needs an address the registrar will accept. A flexi-desk can be enough. A mainland villa is not.
Open guide →Glossary
SPV
A special purpose vehicle — usually a holding or investment company, not the operating startup.
RA
ADGM Registration Authority — the registrar for companies and most commercial licences.
FSRA
Financial Services Regulatory Authority. A financial-services permission is a different track from a Tech Startup or SPV licence.
UBO
Ultimate beneficial owner — the natural person who owns or controls the company, directly or indirectly.
QFZP
Qualifying Free Zone Person under federal corporate tax. The 0% band is conditional — not automatic with an ADGM licence.
Cap table
The ownership ledger: who holds which shares, options, and convertibles, and on what terms.
ESOP
Employee share option plan — a promise of shares later, not the same as issued stock today.
Registered office
The official ADGM address on the public record. A flexi-desk can work if the registrar accepts the lease.
Bring a file, not a blank page
If you already know the entity type and have passports ready, we can scope an ADGM Tech Startup or SPV engagement. Treasury banking is not live.
Rules, fees, and forms change. Confirm the current ADGM Registration Authority and Federal Tax Authority position for your facts. Nothing here is a promise of a licence, a timeline, a tax rate, or a bank account.