Expand North Star by GITEX GLOBAL officially got underway in the UAE as the world’s largest startup and investor connector event launched its landmark 10th anniversary in thrilling fashion on Sunday. The opening drew thousands of local and international visitors to celebrate innovation, collaboration, and new opportunities.

Organised by Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) and hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, Expand North Star 2025 ran at Dubai Harbour from 12–15 October, convening leading founders, investors, entrepreneurs, business executives, and strategic public-private partners from across the globe. Its four-day programme aimed to elevate funding, scaling, and deal-flow levels while catalysing new partnerships and driving inclusive digital growth across emerging AI economies.

The UAE: Charting a Course to Global Startup Supremacy

Since debuting in 2016, Expand North Star had evolved into a global epicentre of collaboration and investment, providing an inclusive platform through which more than 8,000 founders scaled their businesses. Building on this momentum, the 2025 edition connected over 2,000 disruptive startups with 1,200 international investors managing US$1.1 trillion in assets.

With the highest percentage of growth and late-stage startups anywhere, the event spotlighted projects spanning AI, climate tech, deep tech, digital health, and fintech. It aligned with the UAE’s recent initiative, “The Emirates: The Startup Capital of the World”, designed to position the country as the world’s leading startup hub.

The initiative reflected the government’s ambition to foster innovation and attract global talent, aiming to generate 30,000 new jobs by 2030 and create at least 10 unicorns — companies valued at over US$1 billion — by 2031.

During a keynote address, His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, stated: “We don’t think like other countries; we think in multidecade intervals. We started investing in AI in 2008 – very early days. Abu Dhabi was investing in chips, in global countries, in companies that were focused on AI. Nobody expected that we could be a key player in the domain of AI. Against all odds, we are proving that we can. This is going to incentivise everyone – East and West.”

H.E. Al Olama added: “It's important for us to not only succeed, but for everyone who comes to the UAE to help us understand what we can do better. We do not claim to know it all – we claim to be the best students and the best listeners. One thing we promise is that if people come to us with advice, we are going to take it seriously and ensure that it’s implemented in the coming years.”

During the session ‘Scaling a digital future: How will emerging tech redraw the startup map of the next decade’, Hatem Dowidar, Global CEO of e&, said: “As the landscape evolves and technology and customer needs change, we may also see pivots and potential changes in companies’ investment criteria. There’s also 5G standalone – or 5.5G – this is something certain to enable a lot of new businesses, including startups. We also have to make sure that we are governing AI in the proper way to ensure data integrity and privacy. For example, within our ecosystem, we have implemented a full AI governance system that ensures data anonymity and customer privacy.”

Presight AI-Startup Accelerator: A Launchpad for Real Business

Among the UAE’s most celebrated enterprises participating was Presight, a G42 company and the region’s largest big data analytics firm. One year after launching the Presight AI-Startup Accelerator at the 2024 edition, the first cohorts with market-ready prototypes were unveiled.

The Presight AI-Startup Accelerator was the UAE’s first dedicated AI acceleration programme and the first created by a publicly listed Middle Eastern technology company. It leveraged Presight’s technical expertise, enterprise partnerships, and customer ecosystem to give startups access to commercial pathways, infrastructure, and mentorship opportunities.

Thomas Pramotedham, CEO of Presight, revealed: “There are many accelerator programmes around the world, but what’s different about ours is that we are creating a global platform. The UAE and Abu Dhabi has become the AI capital – and this is where technology and innovation meets. With G42’s ecosystem and the UAE’s reach, we offer our cohorts not only compute and expertise – but real business. And since then, they have met ambassadors, enterprises, and key stakeholders from the public and private sectors.”

The showcase highlighted Presight’s growing role in shaping the UAE’s AI innovation landscape, featuring 10 high-potential startups developing solutions with real-world impact.

Strengthening Cybersecurity and Global Partnerships

Pramotedham’s participation coincided with Presight signing a partnership with the UAE Cybersecurity Council on opening day. Prior to the signing, Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security for the UAE Government, stated: “Cybersecurity is firmly rooted in the DNA of everything that we do. Amidst so many technological aspects – be it AI today, quantum tomorrow, or something else in the future – safety and security will always be one of the main pillars to elevate and enhance next-generation startups and ensure people utilise technologies in the best ways possible. As a nation, our digital transformation focuses on the human-centric factor – and we see so many great entrepreneurs and aspirational thinkers supporting our national security and critical infrastructure.”

Brazil: A Powerhouse of Innovation

With representation from 180 countries, 2025 became a record-breaking year for international participation at Expand North Star. ApexBrasil, the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, became the first-ever Country Partner. Across two pavilions, 55 startups and innovation hubs showcased how Brazil was driving innovation and building tech solutions for global challenges.

Unicorns and Visionary Investors

This year’s edition presented its largest-ever unicorn showcase with more than 40 companies. Among those gaining attention were PsiQuantum (USA), talabat (Kuwait), Andalusia Labs (UAE), and Carousell (Singapore).

From Europe and North America to Asia and the Middle East, leading multinational banking, venture capital, and investment institutions — including JP Morgan, Daiwa Capital Management, Eurazeo, Octopus Energy Generation, Qatar National Bank, Raiffeisenbank, Samsung Ventures, and SBI Ventures — gathered to identify the next generation of ventures shaping the future of technology and innovation.