International startups are increasingly vying for an opportunity to establish their global hubs in the UAE in the hopes of accelerating their growth, a latest industry report said.
During the last two-and-a-half-year period, the number of applications from startups based outside the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region grew by an impressive 284 percent, validating the success of the initiatives made by the UAE’s leadership to attract the world’s most innovative business leaders to the country, the report by Flat6Labs, the MENA region’s leading seed and early-stage venture capital firm, said.
The firm said its report is based on the analysis of over 4,000 applications to five cycles of its Ignite seed funding and incubator programme, between June 2021 and October 2023.
Flat6Labs also reported a consistent increase in the number of applications from UAE-based startups over the five cycles of the programme, reflecting a two-time increase over the recorded window.
While the Ignite programme is open to startups from around the world, it was interesting to see that in every cycle, the number of applications from startups in Egypt was second only to that for the UAE, the firm said.
“The steady and considerable increase in the number of applications to our programme over each six-month cycle indicates just how rapidly the UAE is advancing its position as a global hub for tech entrepreneurship,” Ryaan Sharif, General Manager at Flat6Labs UAE, said.
“The nation’s highly active VC and investor community, favourable legislation, rich talent pool, high standards of living, and coveted position as the gateway to the thriving MEA region, and indeed the world, make it ideal for disruptive businesses to establish their global headquarters,” he added.
Surge in female-founded startups
The VC firm also said there was a significant increase in the number of applications by female-founded startups, which grew 244 percent over the last two and a half years.
Impressively, female-founded companies accounted for a whole 32 percent of all applications made to the Ignite programme.
“Female founders are certainly at a greater advantage than they were, say, a decade ago. Governments and investors are beginning to realise the positive economic implications of being more inclusive of women in the entrepreneurial ecosystem,” the report said.
“Work remains to be done, but the mounting evidence of the above-average potential of female founders to lead successful startups, combined with the rise of female-led and female-focused VCs, is welcome,” said Sharif.
Source: Arabian Business
