Expand North Star 2025 by GITEX GLOBAL opens today, celebrating ten years of startup innovation
Expand North Star by GITEX GLOBAL is officially underway in the UAE, as the world’s largest startup and investor connector event launched its landmark 10th anniversary with a thrilling launch on Sunday, alongside thousands of local and international visitors.
Organized by Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) and hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, Expand North Star 2025 runs at Dubai Harbour from October 12-15, convening leading founders, investors, entrepreneurs, business executives, and strategic public-private partners from around the world. Its four-day program aims to boost funding, scaling, and deal flow—fostering new partnerships and promoting inclusive digital growth across emerging AI economies.
The UAE: Charting a Course to Global Startup Supremacy
Since debuting in 2016, Expand North Star has become a hub of collaboration and investment, offering an inclusive global platform through which more than 8,000 founders have expanded their businesses. Building on this success, the 2025 event connects over 2,000 of the world’s most disruptive startups with 1,200 international investors managing US$1.1 trillion in assets.
With the highest growth rate and the largest number of late-stage startups anywhere, the event features the most innovative solutions and projects across AI, climate tech, deep tech, digital health, and fintech. This follows the recently announced ‘The Emirates: The Startup Capital of the World,’ a new initiative designed to position the UAE as the top global startup hub.
Reflecting the government’s goal to promote innovation and attract international talent, the initiative plans to create 30,000 new jobs by 2030 and establish at least 10 unicorns—companies valued over US$1 billion—by 2031.
Discussing the UAE’s AI strategy and vision during a keynote address, His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, said: “We don’t think like other countries; we think in multi-decade intervals. We started investing in AI in 2008 – very early days. Abu Dhabi was investing in chips, in global countries, in companies focused on AI. Nobody expected that we could become a key player in AI. Against all odds, we are proving that we can. This will motivate everyone – East and West.
H.E. Al Olama added, “It’s important for us not only to 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 a session titled ‘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 that’s certain to enable a lot of new businesses, including startups. We also have to govern AI effectively to maintain data integrity and privacy. For example, within our ecosystem, we have implemented a full AI governance system that ensures data anonymity and customer privacy.”
The Presight AI-Startup Accelerator: A Springboard to Real Business and Global Reach
Among the UAE’s most prominent companies participating is Presight, a G42 entity and the region’s largest big data analytics firm. One year after the 2024 edition, when the Presight AI-Startup Accelerator was launched to support and accelerate early-stage ventures, the program’s first groups with market-ready prototypes were announced.
The Presight AI-Startup Accelerator is the UAE’s first dedicated AI acceleration program, created by a publicly listed Middle Eastern technology company. It leverages Presight’s technical expertise, enterprise partnerships, and customer ecosystem to give startups direct commercial opportunities and access to top-tier infrastructure and mentorship.
Thomas Pramotedham, CEO of Presight, revealed: “There are many accelerator programs around the world, but what’s different about ours is that we are creating a global platform. The UAE and Abu Dhabi have become the AI capital—and this is where technology and innovation meet. With G42’s ecosystem and the UAE’s reach, we offer our cohorts not only computing 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 increasing influence in advancing the UAE’s AI innovation scene, showcasing 10 high-potential startups from around the world developing AI solutions with real-world impact.
Pramotedham’s participation coincided with Presight signing a partnership with the UAE Cybersecurity Council – one of many collaborations on a momentous opening day.
Before the signing, Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security for the UAE Government, elaborated on the influence of entrepreneurs in supporting the national security mandate, stating: “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 for elevating and enhancing next-generation startups and ensuring people utilise technologies in the best possible ways. 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: An Innovation Powerhouse Building Bridges with the World
With representation from 180 countries, 2025 is a record year for international participation at Expand North Star, where ApexBrasil, the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, is the first-ever Country Partner. Across two pavilions, 55 startups and innovation hubs—specializing in AI, fintech, and more—are showcasing how Brazil is driving innovation and developing tech solutions for global challenges.
Convening Pioneering Unicorns and Visionary International Investors
Expand North Star 2025 features its largest-ever unicorn showcase with over 40 companies. Notably, PsiQuantum (USA), a US$68 billion unicorn developing the first fault-tolerant quantum system, and Talabat (Kuwait), the leading on-demand online ordering and delivery platform in the MENA region, valued at US$8.5 billion, drew significant attention.
Others included Andalusia Labs (UAE), a global leader in digital asset risk infrastructure and one of the fastest unicorns in history—a billion-dollar company within 11 months of launching—and Carousell (Singapore), one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing e-commerce platforms.
From Europe and North America to Asia and the Middle East, Expand North Star also hosts the world’s leading multinational banking, venture capital, and investment firms seeking the next era-defining ventures that will shape the future of technology and innovation.
These include JPMorgan (USA), Daiwa Capital Management (Japan), Eurazeo (France), Octopus Energy Generation (UK), Qatar National Bank (Qatar), Raiffeisenbank (Austria), Samsung Ventures (Japan), and SBI Ventures (Germany).
