Abu Dhabi’s tech hub sees increased interest

The new technology hub in Abu Dhabi says it has seen a surge of interest from startups in the UAE and abroad despite the economic impact of last year’s coronavirus pandemic, amid growing optimism from the sector.

She said Well it’s me, Chief Operations Officer at Hub71 communitycommunity approved Hub71, backed by the Abu Dhabi Government Fund’s Mubadala Investment Company, SoftBank Vision Fund and Microsoft, has awarded 100 startups since its inception in 2019 after a selection process that attracted nearly 3,500 applications.

Itani added: Despite the coronavirus and everything else, startups continue to advance. We have seen a boom in certain sectors that have been accelerated by the pandemic such as health technology, education technology, and fintech.

The start-ups were encouraged to establish themselves in the UAE after a series of successes achieved by local technology companies.

Investors in the Middle East are searching for potential tech unicorns, which are privately owned startups valued at more than $1 billion.

Anghami, Spotify’s competitor focused on the Middle East and North Africa, became a target of the so-called special purpose acquisition firm SPAC earlier this year and is set to list on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in New York.

Uber has acquired Careem, a ride-hailing app in the Middle East and Asia. This is for $3.1 billion in 2020.

In 2017, Amazon acquired the e-commerce market Souq.com for $580 million.

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The Hub71 community is supported by the Abu Dhabi government

Startups were also encouraged to base in Abu Dhabi due to the support provided by the Hub71 community. Which has been extended to all businesses in the center during the pandemic.

Itani said the companies got free office space, housing and insurance for all their employees. The Hub71 community has brought in about 19 venture capital funds totaling between $2 and 2.5 billion in assets. With a pool of readily available capital.

The Hub71 community, which is located in the financial district of the emirate, is a pioneering initiative within the Abu Dhabi Development Accelerators Program “Ghadan 21”. The 50 billion dirhams ($13.6 billion) project was launched in 2018 to accelerate economic growth.

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