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348 startups from across the world applied to the Hub71 Incentive Program, 20 per cent of which are led by Emirati nationals and 37 per cent of startups are female-led companies.
Startups that applied were predominantly in Fintech, Artificial Intelligence and E-commerce. Top five countries to apply were the UAE, USA, Lebanon, India and Egypt.
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s tech ecosystem today launched the region’s first Microsoft Reactor program as it further expanded its ecosystem to 35 innovative startups with the announcement of 17 winners of the Hub71 Incentive Package.
As part of its strategic partnership with Microsoft, Hub71’s Microsoft Reactor program will be a center for technical learning and knowledge-sharing where developers and startup founders can connect with the local community. The Microsoft Reactor program will provide a curriculum to help these professionals strengthen expertise around emerging topics such as cloud services and Artificial Intelligence. This comprehensive program is available to Hub71 residents and the broader community free of charge. Microsoft for Startups will also operate out of Hub71, which is designed to support startups as they build and scale their companies.
With the announcement of 17 winners of the Hub71 Incentive Program, Hub71 is now supporting 35 innovative startups with up to 100 per cent free housing, office space and health insurance for two years for seed companies and 50 per cent subsidizes for emergent companies, for three years, worth around AED 3.5million (USD 950k).
Ibrahim Ajami, Head of Ventures at Mubadala Capital, said: “The 17 winning startups joining Hub71 will make waves across multiple industries, adding diversity to Abu Dhabi’s tech economy from around the world and creating new jobs in the Emirate. To further support the success of Hub71’s community of innovative startups, we’re pleased to welcome the Microsoft Reactor program to Hub71; providing new skills and enabling companies to materialize their best innovations yet.”
Jeana Jorgensen, General Manager, Cloud and AI Division at Microsoft, said: “Built to support the Gulf’s unprecedented rate of digital transformation, we are thrilled to open a Microsoft Reactor within Hub71. The concentration of globally minded startups, investors and industry, represents an enormous opportunity. We believe bringing these elements together with Mubadala and Hub71 will be a catalyst for the region.”
Hub71, which opened its program to the public last October, received 348 applications from 47 countries – with the UAE, USA, Lebanon, India and Egypt forming the top five countries. 41 per cent of applicants said they would move their teams to Abu Dhabi if they were selected – validating the Emirate’s position as a regional tech hub.
Startups that applied to the Hub71 Incentive Program were predominately in the sectors of Fintech, Artificial Intelligence and e-commerce, with 72 per cent of applicants in the ‘seed’ stage – having raised USD 100k to 1 million and 28 per cent of applicants in the ‘emergent’ stage – having raised USD 1-5 million. Of the startups that applied, 20 per cent are led by Emirati nationals and 37 per cent are female-led companies. Collectively, the 17 winning startups look to raise approximately USD 60 million in capital, and to double their full-time employees.
Hub7 Incentive Program winner and Emirati founder and CEO, Mustafa Almusawa Alhashemi, commented: “We are overjoyed to have been selected for the Hub71 Incentive Program. We look forward to bringing our team here to Hub71. We feel it’s the right place at the right time to build Smart Navigation System; as we believe Abu Dhabi is set to become the leading global tech hub in the not-too-distant future.”
Andrey Maksimov, Co-Founder and CEO of Precious Payload, which will be admitted into the Hub71 Incentive Program, said: “For us, being a startup in the space technology industry, it is crucial to have a safe and open environment to operate in. Abu Dhabi makes perfect sense for us as we consolidate our non-US business in emerging markets and take our business to the next level. Thanks to Hub71, we now have a headquarters in a strategic location, close to our customers and in a country that is a recognized leader in space technology. Moreover, the Hub71 Incentive Program allows us to offer our core team free housing and health insurance so that we can focus on growing our business and building the next product.”
Hub71 reopened the Hub71 Incentive Program today and reports that it will remain open all year-round. To apply or to find more information about ways to join Hub71, visit www.hub71.com.
Register for the first Microsoft Reactor Open House here: https://www.meetup.com/Microsoft-Reactor-Abu-Dhabi/.
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The latest cohort to be admitted into the Hub71 Incentive Program include:
Dapi: Unified open banking platform for Fintech applications. HQ: United Arab Emirates.
Smart Navigation Systems: Outdoor to indoor location-based solution that provides wayfinding and location-aware messaging. HQ: United Arab Emirates.
Smart Crowd: MENA’s first and only regulated real estate investment platform that allows for micro-investments in real estate. HQ: United Arab Emirates.
Klangoo: Provides Natural Language Processing (NLP) services to a multitude of domains through AI. HQ: Lebanon.
Nestrom: Mobile-first SaaS operational quality management software to capture quality data, generating follow-up actions and real-time analytics. HQ: Jordan.
GetBee: Enterprise software, digitally transforming providers in healthcare, education and professional service. HQ: United Arab Emirates.
BulkWhiz: First bulk grocery e-commerce platform in the region, powered by home grown artificial intelligence. HQ: United Arab Emirates.
Tenderd: Offers a secure, simple and reliable way to rent construction equipment. HQ: United States.
Rise: Democratizes access to essential cross border financial services for modest income migrants through accessible social platforms. HQ: United Arab Emirates.
Teacherly: Collaborative lesson planning and peer to peer coaching platform with a focus on interactive curriculum and flexible teaching. HQ: United Kingdom
Humtap: Music & Video original content generation AI, Deep Tech, Social Platform. HQ: United States.
The Concept: Innovates through hardware, technology and material selection by taking mundane products and making them data driven and sustainable. HQ: United Arab Emirates.
Okadoc: Instant booking platform that allows patients to search & find in-network doctors across 130+ specialties. HQ: United Arab Emirates.
EarthX: Data mapping software company enabling users to aggregate, organize and visualize geospatial data in the form of 'Layers' and 'GeoStories’. HQ: United Kingdom
Precious Payload: SaaS product for satellite industry to make planning and execution of space missions easier by taking care of the paperwork, technical analysis and supply chain management. HQ: United States.
RedCrow: Offers risk mitigation to organizations and individuals, through a platform that provide real-time security intelligence feeds supported by statistics, a mapping system, Big Data Infrastructure, Arabic NLP and Forecasting Technology. HQ: Palestine.
Natilus: Builds autonomous airfreight aircrafts. HQ: United Arab Emirates.
About Hub71:
Hub71, named after the UAE’s formation in 1971, is a tech ecosystem located in the heart of Abu Dhabi that brings together several key elements for startup success: access to capital, access to market opportunities, and a favorable business environment. Backed by Mubadala Investment Company – its growing international tech community of tech giants, venture capitalists, tech ecosystem players, and global startups can expect to benefit from an interconnected global network. Alongside strategic partners Microsoft, SoftBank Vision Fund, and Abu Dhabi Global Market; Hub71 is creating the optimal environment for transformative tech companies looking to maximize success, produce outstanding tech innovations, and scale globally. For the greater social and economic good of Abu Dhabi, Hub71 is a flagship initiative of the Dh50 billion economic accelerator program ‘Ghadan 21’, which means ‘tomorrow’ in Arabic. For more information visit www.hub71.com and follow us on @Hub71AD #Hub71.
About Microsoft:
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @Microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft opened its Dubai-based headquarters in 1991, which, today, oversees operations across the region.
Media contacts:
Nirmen Al Ghussein, TechHubEdelman@Edelman.com ; +971 50 106 7059
For more information about Microsoft (Press only):
Hassan Al Shouli, Microsoft MEA; Email : alshouli@microsoft.com Mobile: +971 50 934 0133
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