Summary
RAK DAO, the UAE’s dedicated digital assets free zone, officially rebranded as Innovation City in September 2025, broadening its scope beyond Web3 into AI, gaming, robotics, and healthtech. This guide covers the current setup process, real costs, and an important distinction most guides skip: what your company registration actually authorises versus what still needs separate regulatory approval.
Setting up a remote company in RAK DAO has become a genuine option for entrepreneurs managing businesses from anywhere in the world. Ras Al Khaimah Digital Assets Oasis launched in 2023 as the first free zone in the UAE built entirely around digital and virtual assets, and in September 2025 it officially rebranded and relaunched as Innovation City, expanding its focus well beyond crypto alone. If you’re a digital entrepreneur, blockchain founder, or Web3 company based in or connected to Dubai and the wider UAE, this guide covers what the zone actually offers today, not the 2023 version still described in most articles about it.
What Is RAK DAO, Now Innovation City?
RAK DAO (Ras Al Khaimah Digital Assets Oasis) was established under Ras Al Khaimah’s dedicated free zone legislation in 2023 to support digital asset companies. In its first year alone, it licensed close to 400 companies, strong evidence of real demand for a jurisdiction built specifically around Web3 rather than a generic multi-sector free zone with a crypto add-on. It complements, rather than replaces, RAKEZ, Ras Al Khaimah’s broader multi-sector free zone, since the two authorities serve different purposes and shouldn’t be treated as interchangeable when comparing quotes.
In September 2025, the zone officially rebranded as Innovation City, describing itself as the world’s first AI-powered free zone. Its scope now spans five core pillars: Web3 and Digital Assets, Artificial Intelligence, Gaming and iGaming, Robotics, and Healthtech and Digital Health. “RAK DAO” remains widely used commercially and in search, and the underlying registration authority and much of the original digital-asset infrastructure carry over, but the current framework is broader than the name most guides still use. New leadership under CEO Paul Dawalibi, appointed in April 2025, has continued building out the zone’s ecosystem partnerships alongside this broader mandate.
The DAO Association Framework: A Genuine World-First
This is worth knowing about even if you’re not building a literal DAO. In 2024, Ras Al Khaimah introduced a dedicated DAO Association framework, allowing decentralised autonomous organisations to obtain legal personality while preserving on-chain governance and community control. In practical terms, a DAO registered this way can sign contracts, hold assets, engage service providers, and interact with banks while limiting personal liability for contributors, solving one of the most persistent structural problems in the Web3 ecosystem: how a genuinely decentralised community holds a bank account or signs a lease without collapsing into a traditional corporate hierarchy that contradicts its own governance model. International legal commentators have described it as one of the first serious global attempts to give DAOs a compliant legal wrapper without forcing them into a structure that undermines decentralisation, a distinction that matters enormously to communities that have spent years avoiding exactly that trade-off.
Why Choose RAK DAO / Innovation City for a Remote Business?
- Full remote accessibility: register and manage your company online, with no need to be physically present in the UAE for the registration itself.
- Sector focus with real depth: one of very few zones globally purpose-built for Web3, now extending that same regulatory clarity to AI, gaming, robotics, and healthtech.
- Fast company registration: straightforward applications with complete documents can process in about a week.
- 100% foreign ownership: no local sponsor or partner required.
- Crypto-friendly payments and banking partnerships: the zone has established relationships with local banks specifically to ease account opening for digital asset businesses, a genuine practical advantage over zones without this groundwork already done.
Company Registration vs Regulated Virtual Asset Licensing: An Important Distinction
This is the part many guides get vague about, and it matters if your business involves actual virtual asset services rather than building software or infrastructure. Registering a company in RAK DAO / Innovation City gives you a legal entity and a business license, but it does not, by itself, authorise regulated activities like operating a crypto exchange, custody services, or brokerage. Those specifically regulated virtual asset activities require separate authorisation from the competent regulator, the Securities and Commodities Authority federally, or VARA specifically for Dubai-based activity. If your business is building blockchain infrastructure, developing a DApp, or offering Web3 consulting, RAK DAO’s standard registration covers you. If you’re planning to run an actual exchange or custody platform, budget for a separate, more involved regulatory process on top of your RAK DAO company formation, one that involves considerably more capital, compliance documentation, and review time than the base company registration alone.
Step-by-Step Process to Set Up a Remote Company
Step 1: Choose Your Business Activity
Select from the zone’s approved activities across its now-broader pillars: blockchain development, virtual asset custody, NFT marketplaces, tokenisation platforms, DApp development, AI and applied machine learning, gaming and iGaming infrastructure, robotics, or healthtech.
Step 2: Select Your Company Structure
Choose between a Free Zone Limited Liability Company (FZ-LLC), a branch of a foreign company, or, where relevant, the DAO Association structure covered above.
Step 3: Submit Required Documents
Prepare your passport copy, proof of address, business plan, and CV or resume, covered in full below.
Step 4: Apply Through the Portal
Complete your application online, uploading documents, choosing office space (virtual or physical), and paying fees digitally.
Step 5: Receive Your License and Begin Operating
Once approved, your license is issued and you can proceed to bank account opening and global operations, keeping in mind the registration-versus-regulated-activity distinction above if your business touches regulated virtual asset services.
Documents Required
Basic documents:
- Valid passport copy of the owner and shareholders
- Recent utility bill as proof of address
- Passport-style photo with a white background
- A clear business plan
Optional, depending on structure:
- Previous business experience or CV
- Company profile, if applying as a branch of an existing foreign company
Cost of Setting Up a Remote Company
Published figures vary meaningfully across sources and packages, so treat these as planning ranges rather than a fixed quote:
- Entry-level license fees: commonly start around AED 6,000 to 13,000 depending on activity and provider package
- Virtual office or co-working space: from around AED 5,000 per year
- Realistic total first-year cost, including registration, a basic license, and standard setup support: typically AED 15,000 to 50,000, with regulated or more complex activities running toward the higher end
Confirm current published pricing directly with the authority or a registered agent before budgeting, since packages and inclusions shift over time, and figures quoted in an article from even a year ago may already understate current costs given how actively this zone continues to develop its offering.
How Long Does It Take?
Standard company registration, without a regulated virtual asset activity involved, typically completes in about a week once documents are complete. If your business requires separate regulated authorisation, exchange, custody, or brokerage activity specifically, that additional regulatory review commonly adds several weeks to a couple of months on top of the base company registration timeline, since it sits with a different regulator entirely rather than the free zone authority itself.
Bank Account Opening
Opening a business bank account is genuinely easier with a RAK DAO license than through a generic free zone, thanks to established banking partnerships supporting blockchain-linked activity under proper regulation. One caveat worth flagging clearly: while company registration itself can be completed remotely, opening the bank account typically still requires a personal visit, so “fully remote” applies to formation, not necessarily to every downstream step.
Tax Benefits
- 0% corporate tax on qualifying income, for free zone companies meeting the federal Qualifying Free Zone Person conditions, rather than automatically for all revenue
- No import or export duties on digital goods and services
- Full repatriation of capital and profits, with no restrictions on transferring funds internationally
Common Mistakes and Misconceptions
- Assuming the company license alone authorises exchange or custody activity: it doesn’t, separate regulatory authorisation applies, covered above.
- Treating “remote setup” as meaning no visit is ever required: bank account opening typically still needs a personal visit even though registration itself doesn’t.
- Referring to outdated 2023-era information without noting the 2025 rebrand: the underlying zone and much of its infrastructure carry over, but the current scope, five pillars rather than digital assets alone, is broader than older guides describe.
- Confusing RAK DAO/Innovation City with RAKEZ: these are separate Ras Al Khaimah free zone authorities with different sector focuses, and a quote from one doesn’t apply to the other.
Conclusion
Setting up a remote company in RAK DAO, now operating as Innovation City, remains one of the more genuinely founder-friendly options for Web3, AI, and emerging tech entrepreneurs in the UAE, provided you understand what your registration actually covers and budget realistically for any regulated activity that needs separate authorisation. The DAO Association framework alone makes this a genuinely distinctive jurisdiction for decentralised projects that struggle to find a legal home elsewhere. As a business setup company working across the UAE’s free zones, we’re happy to walk through whether this jurisdiction fits your specific activity. If you’re also weighing this against free zone business setup in Dubai or business setup in Dubai more broadly, comparing your specific activity against both jurisdictions before committing avoids a costly restructuring later.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is RAK DAO still called that, or is it Innovation City now?
Both names are in active use. The zone officially rebranded as Innovation City in September 2025, broadening its scope to five pillars, but “RAK DAO” remains widely used commercially and in search.
Is physical presence required to set up a remote company in RAK DAO?
No, for the registration itself. A personal visit is typically still required to open a corporate bank account, even though company formation can be completed remotely.
Is RAK DAO regulated for crypto companies?
The zone registers companies and licenses standard digital-asset activities, but regulated activities like exchange, custody, or brokerage services require separate authorisation from the Securities and Commodities Authority federally or the relevant regulator for your specific activity, not the free zone registration alone.
What is the DAO Association framework?
A 2024 legal innovation allowing decentralised autonomous organisations to register with legal personality while preserving on-chain governance, letting a DAO sign contracts and hold a bank account without adopting a traditional corporate structure.
How much does it cost to set up a company in RAK DAO?
Entry-level license fees commonly start around AED 6,000 to 13,000, with realistic total first-year costs, including office and setup support, typically ranging AED 15,000 to 50,000.
How long does registration take?
Standard company registration typically completes in about a week with complete documents. Regulated virtual asset activities requiring separate authorisation take considerably longer.
Can existing foreign companies open a branch here?
Yes, foreign companies can establish a branch under the zone’s current structure.
What business activities are covered now that it’s Innovation City?
Web3 and digital assets, artificial intelligence, gaming and iGaming, robotics, and healthtech and digital health, a broader scope than the zone’s original digital-assets-only focus.
