Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy attracts 101 digital startups to Dubai within nine-month period
Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, one of the three chambers operating under the umbrella of Dubai Chambers, has revealed that it attracted 101 innovative digital startups to the emirate in cooperation with partners from various government entities during the nine-month period from Q1 – Q3 2023. The achievement came as part of the chamber’s efforts to enhance Dubai’s digital economy and support the ambitions of the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33).
His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, and Chairman of Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, emphasised the chamber’s continuing commitment to working to attract leading digital companies and the world’s best tech talent to Dubai. His Excellency said that these efforts support the chamber’s ongoing drive to achieve the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, by consolidating the emirate’s leadership as a global capital of the digital economy, activating the role of the private sector as a key driver of sustainable economic growth, and ensuring a favourable business environment that enables emerging digital companies and talent to thrive.
His Excellency stated that the chamber is working to establish an integrated ecosystem to attract emerging digital companies and encourage entrepreneurs to establish their businesses in Dubai. He added that the chamber is building a prosperous digital economy and accelerating the pace of digital transformation by encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation, supporting startups, scaleups, and SMEs throughout their growth journeys, and connecting businesses with local and international investors.
International roadshows showcase growth opportunities in Dubai
During the nine-month period between January and September, Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy conducted a total of 24 roadshows and business trips across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe. As part of these missions, business meetings were coordinated with 554 companies including multinationals, SMEs, startups, and scaleups. The meetings created a valuable platform to showcase the huge growth potential in Dubai and highlight the benefits of doing business in the emirate.
Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy launched several impactful programmes and initiatives during Q3 2023 in support of its strategic priorities. These included the inauguration of the Emirati Training Academy as part of the ‘Create Apps in Dubai’ initiative, which seeks to train over 1,000 Emiratis on mobile application development and business models to advance the government’s drive to triple the number of app developers in the emirate by 2025. The initiative aims to support 100 new national projects for the development of cutting-edge apps, which will be made available in digital app stores over the next two years.
Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy also organised a series of workshops dedicated to specific sectors within the digital economy, as well as a special workshop with the participation of more than 20 government entities and departments to discuss the challenges facing the digital industries. The session explored potential solutions aimed at fostering a thriving ecosystem that creates new opportunities and contributes to the sustainability of the digital economy.
Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy also published two in-depth reports on the startup ecosystem in the digital economy and Dubai’s venture capital ecosystem. In addition, the chamber welcomed a delegation of 21 Palestinian startups for the first-ever business matching meeting between the two markets, which resulted in a total of 237 B2B meetings.
Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy is dedicated to positioning the emirate as one of the world’s most diversified technology-enabled digital hubs. The chamber amplifies the success of Dubai’s digital ecosystem and accelerates the emirate’s transformation into one of the world's leading digital economies, in line with the goals of the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33).