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Abu Dhabi’s tech accelerator, Hub71, has seen a surge in the number of female-founded start-ups joining in the start-up community.
The hub announced on Monday that it has selected 19 new start-ups who will benefit from an incentive programme, 30 percent of them are founded by women, marking a growing number of female founders choosing to immerse themselves in the start-up community.
The third cohort of start-ups for the year include businesses founded by entrepreneurs from Switzerland, United Kingdom, Egypt and the UAE, among others. Nearly half (47 percent) are established by Emiratis and expatriates based in the UAE.
They specialise in 11 sectors, including artificial intelligence and big data, education technology, agricultural technology and health technology.
“The successful start-ups, chosen from hundreds of applicants, will benefit from Hub71’s incentive programme, which reduces the cost of living and business set up costs for entrepreneurs seeking to expand their businesses in the region,” Hub71 said in a statement.
Since its launch in March 2019, Hub71 has expanded its ecosystem to more than 75 global start-ups benefiting from the hub’s resources, global reach and community access.
“Despite COVID-19, we are still growing and managed to attract applicants from 32 countries, which suggests we are doing the right thing at the right time. It’s a testament to our efforts to place the spotlight on Abu Dhabi, especially because of the strong government backing, generous incentives and thriving ecosystem we can offer,” said Hanan Harhara Al Yafei, CEO of Hub71.
Every quarter, a selection committee from Hub71 chooses a list of the most promising start-ups that meet the criteria to join the community in Abu Dhabi.
Chosen businesses enjoy a host of benefits, such as equity-free subsidies including up to 100 percent free housing, health insurance and WeWork x Hub71 space for up to three years.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
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