Hub71 businesses raised $1.22bn from tech centre’s inception to end of 2022

Start-ups at Hub71 raised about Dh4.5 billion ($1.22 billion) from the Abu Dhabi’s global technology centre’s inception to the end of last year, as its company and investor bases continued to grow.

The figure is up more than 40 per cent from the Dh3.2 billion that was raised until the third quarter of last year, Hub 71 deputy chief executive Ahmad Alwan told The National in an interview. The ecosystem has also helped start-ups to generate Dh3 billion in revenue until the end of last year.

Hub71 more than doubled its start-up numbers to more than 200 last year, securing 41 deals with corporate partners worth Dh160 million, Mr Alwan said. More than 900 jobs have been created since inception.

“We believe that we are on the map when it comes to the technology landscape. There are a lot of initiatives that exist within Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE that we can further build on to continue positioning and amplifying Abu Dhabi as a global technology hub and ecosystem,” Mr Alwan said before Hub71’s Impact event this week.

“The ultimate objective is to build and develop tech companies out of Abu Dhabi. Our target is to continue to grow our funding figures and to see startups that are able to raise a significant amount of funding.

“The way we do that is we continue to liaise with our investor partners that are seriously and actively exploring the opportunity within the Hub71 and Abu Dhabi start-up ecosystem and channelling that.”

Hub71’s role is part of a broader strategy by the UAE government to promote entrepreneurship across all sectors. The Emirates aims to become “the entrepreneurial nation by 2031”, the Ministry of Economy has said. It also aims to be home to 20 unicorns – or start-ups with a valuation of $1 billion and above – by then, Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq said last October.

Start-ups 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.

The value created by start-ups globally is about $3 trillion, which is almost equal to the gross domestic product of a G7 economy, according to advisory company Startup Genome.

Funding for these companies set a record in 2021 when it hit $621 billion, according to CB Insights. In December, Hub71 said its start-ups had collectively raised $1 billion.

“We brought in investor, corporate, talent, government and regulatory partners, all to contribute to building an ecosystem that helps start-ups grow,” Mr Alwan said.

Hub71’s start-ups currently cater to more than 20 industries, according to its website.

Among the sectors it plans to focus on further are financial technology and its digital asset subsets, health, education, transport, logistics, travel, climate and food, he said.

The development of the digital asset space will be reinforced with emerging tech, including artificial intelligence and blockchain, Mr Alwan said.

Acting chief executive Badr Al Olama said Abu Dhabi was the “driving force” behind the growth of several start-ups that are “pushing the boundaries”.

“Abu Dhabi has arrived at the intersection of transformation and innovation … we are now solidifying the impact we generate on a global scale by doubling down on breakthrough technologies that are poised to make game-changing impact,” he said.