Hub71, a start-up hub located in Abu Dhabi, has reportedly helped start-ups raise nearly Dh4.5 billion ($1.22 billion) in funding globally until the end of 2022. This figure is up more than 40% from the Dh3.2 billion raised until the third quarter of 2022. Additionally, start-ups generated Dh3 billion in revenue at the end of last year, which is up 20% from the end of the third quarter, according to Ahmad Alwan, the Deputy Chief Executive of Hub71, who shared this information during an interview with The National.
Hub71 saw its number of start-ups more than double to over 200 last year, securing 41 deals with corporate partners worth Dh160 million, Alwan added. Since its inception, the start-up hub has helped to create more than 900 jobs. Hub71 aims to build and develop tech companies out of Abu Dhabi, and its target is to continue growing its funding figures and seeing start-ups raise a significant amount of funding.
Abu Dhabi’s goal is to become “the entrepreneurial nation by 2031,” according to the Ministry of Economy, and the country aims to be home to 20 unicorns by then. To this end, Hub71’s role is part of a broader strategy by the UAE government to promote entrepreneurship across all sectors. Start-ups worldwide are booming as they take on the challenges of developing solutions for a world that is becoming increasingly digital in key sectors such as retail, services, and commerce.
Hub71’s start-ups currently cater to more than 20 industries, including fintech, digital assets, health, education, transport, logistics, travel climate, and food. The start-up hub plans to focus on these sectors further, with a particular emphasis on financial technology and its digital asset subsets. Alwan stated that the development of the digital asset space is to be reinforced with emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and blockchain.
According to Badr Al Olama, acting Chief Executive of Hub71, Abu Dhabi is the “driving force” behind the growth of several start-ups that are “pushing the boundaries.” He added that the emirate has arrived at the intersection of transformation and innovation, and it is now solidifying the impact it generates on a global scale by doubling down on breakthrough technologies that are poised to make game-changing impacts.
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