As the world grapples with the effects of the Covid pandemic, Hub71 has continued its work to make Abu Dhabi a global hub for innovative start-ups. Today, as industries shift from survival to development and look to the future, Hub71 offers a host of exciting initiatives designed to maximize the growth of the most advanced technology companies.
“Entrepreneurship will be a key driver in consolidating a sustainable economy, and Hub71 will be central to that goal,” says Jida Itani, COO Hub71. “Hub71 has designed new programs to serve and attract larger-scale technology companies and support their growth outside of Abu Dhabi.
“Founded on the basis of partnerships, the ecosystem ensures the availability of investments, business activities and incentives from the private and public sector.”
Hub71 is part of Abu Dhabi’s broader efforts to help businesses thrive in a global tech ecosystem where the government has consistently introduced frameworks that create attractive incentives and an innovative shareholding structure. This is reflected in the government’s latest decision to introduce a SPAC regulatory framework, developed by ADX and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED). The framework provides sponsors with a transparent and efficient process to take companies public, and in turn will lengthen the capital track for Hub71 startups to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) and exit in the longer term.
Pandemic response
During the pandemic, Hub71 has remained a hub of opportunity. Over the past 18 months, Hub71 has more than doubled its number of startups, and these startups have reported a doubling of their venture capital investments and a 35% increase in annual revenue since joining. The number of venture capital (VC) partners has more than doubled since the start of the pandemic: there are now 19 investors, from first-time investors to larger opportunities, investing a total of $2 billion.
“Over the past year, Hub71 has made significant progress with a greater focus on strategic projects that foster public-private partnerships,” Itani explains.
“We have increased investment by around AED 1.4 billion in startups. Our startups also generated approximately AED368 million in revenue in 2021, and our community is home to global tech startups and funds with assets under management exceeding $2 billion. Over the past year, we have continued to attract more startups at different stages of growth, including a $1 billion India-based startup to Hub71.
“In doing so, the exceptional and visionary talent that chooses Abu Dhabi as its home is accelerating the emirate as a center of business that inspires future generations.”
To date, Hub71 has accepted 129 startups into its incentive program, and its ability to thrive – even in the toughest market conditions – has demonstrated its powerful spirit of learning, adapting and innovating.
New opportunities
“As the UAE enters its next 50 years, we have moved quickly to build a strong pipeline of startups in sectors of strategic importance, such as FinTech, AI, software development and HealthTech,” says Itani. “We are always looking for partnerships and programs that relieve startups. Our partnerships have allowed us to position Abu Dhabi as an attractive market for outlier startups around the world, enabling them to scale their business and gain market access.
The Hub71 Community Center of Excellence is a recent new initiative. Launched in September 2021, the center represents the first time Hub71 has opened its doors to unincentivized startups and partners. It will host annual events and touchpoints with the aim of accelerating market access, talent recruitment and fundraising.
Events will include Women of Hub71, which promotes female entrepreneurship and women in tech. The center aims to find high-quality global technology startups to strengthen collaboration and establish Abu Dhabi as a leading global technology hub.
Other great opportunities for startups include the Ventures Lab.
“Ventures Lab is Hub71 and Modus Capital’s venture capital program designed to co-create startups,” Itani explains. “Founders can secure funding from Modus’ $80 million venture capital fund and increase market access in Abu Dhabi.
“The program is already demonstrating its impact, accepting at least 16 founders per year and having invested $225,000 in seven companies.”
The Outliers, Hub71’s flagship incentive program, recently launched another cohort of innovative startups, Itani explains: “The Outliers as part of an annual initiative led by Hub71 in partnership with leading multinational companies and government agencies. . It is designed to solve real industry challenges and bring startups and technology companies to market.
Announced in October, the 2021 winners received up to AED 100,000 in cash grants to develop their POCs. The program seeks global technologies to solve pressing business and government challenges posed by partners such as Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), Department of Health Abu Dhabi (DoH) and Etihad Airways.
ADCB has selected UAE-based Genify, an AI specialist for banks, to provide a recommendation engine based on state-of-the-art transformers. Alliance Car Technologies has been selected by the DoH to deploy its S3 ACT solution which includes AI applications for early pathogen detection, data mining, pattern recognition and predictive analytics.
Further development
Hub71 continues to expand its influence. In a recent Memorandum of Understanding, signed in November 2021, Hub71 and the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) committed to amplifying culture and tourism through technological development. This is part of DCT’s existing vision to use digital transformation to improve the customer experience.
The DCT will establish a presence in Hub71, and Hub71 will help identify and collaborate with startups to advance tourism. “This partnership with Hub71 will allow us to expand the network of potential startups we could collaborate with, maximizing our ability to find the right solution that will work for our emirate as we promote the destination both locally and internationally,” said Saeed Al Fazari, General Manager of DCT’s Support Services Sector.
The DCT will also participate in The Outliers program. This partnership will give DCT access to a wide range of startups, both regional and global – and that’s just part of Hub71’s ongoing drive to innovate.
“To continue to attract the world’s leading technology companies, we are moving from an incentive-based approach to a strategy focused on value creation,” Itani said. “We will also redouble our efforts to attract more investors to our capital community and work with them. This will further enhance our pool of venture capital partners and continue to create the ideal environment for startups to grow and raise capital.
“Our goal is to attract the highest quality startups in key tech markets around the world by building communities of founders engaged in Abu Dhabi’s burgeoning innovation ecosystem, wherever they are based. .”
Discover the wide range of Hub71 programs and incentives on offer to help innovative global startups shape the future. Click here.
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