The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is bubbling with startup and scaleup activity. In 2023, investors from Gulf countries invested $3bn into European startups according to Dealroom, which was five times higher than in 2018.
However, connecting with investors and startups in other continents can often be trickier than on home turf, with face-to-face opportunities hard to come by. This is where international networking events shine, bringing together industry players from around the world to connect, discuss and — hopefully — invest.
What MENA offers European startups
“Here in Dubai, we have always been extremely supportive of out-of-the-box thinkers and ambitious entrepreneurs,” says H.E. Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, president and CEO of Dubai Chambers, a nonprofit which supports Dubai’s business community.
“The city serves as an ideal test bed for new ideas thanks to its rapid implementation of supportive laws and regulations, convenient business setup processes and a broad demographic that is eager to embrace new products and services,” he adds.
Exciting new opportunities are emerging for startups and investors from Europe both here in Dubai and the wider region.
Venture funding in Dubai has seen big growth over the past decade. According to fDi Intelligence, Dubai ranked as the fastest growing VC ecosystem in the world between Q3 2017 and Q2 2023.
This growth was boosted by Dubai’s development as a financial centre — in January 2023, the emirate launched the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33), which aims to establish Dubai as one of the top three cities to invest, live and work in.
The United Arab Emirates has also said it wants to create 20 tech unicorns by 2031.
“Exciting new opportunities are emerging for startups and investors from Europe both here in Dubai and the wider region,” says Lootah, adding that the environment has already produced some of MENA’s top unicorns including superapp Careem and cloud kitchen platform Kitopi.
Connecting across continents
Organised by Dubai World Trade Centre and hosted in Dubai Harbour, Expand North Star is the world’s largest event for startups and investors. This year’s event will take place from October 13-16.
“Expand North Star plays a vital role in attracting and connecting the global tech community to Dubai,” says Lootah. “It [enables] deal-making, co-financing and fundraising among investors, creating exciting opportunities for ambitious digital startups to attract funding and scale their operations.”
In 2023, the four-day event featured over 1.8k startups from 91 countries, including 52 unicorn companies with a total net worth $663bn. There were 33k attendees and the participation of 855 investors with over $1trn in assets under management. This year aims to be bigger.
Expand North Star plays a vital role in attracting and connecting the global tech community to Dubai.
“At Expand North Star 2024, held for the second time at the iconic Dubai Harbour and proudly hosted by the Dubai Chamber, we are not just envisioning the future of technology and innovation; we are shaping it,” says Peter Brady, assistant VP — exhibitions project sales at Dubai World Trade Centre.
“This year’s focus aligns with the biggest themes in tech: AI, future of media and creativity, fintech and blockchain, climate tech and deeptech,” he adds.
Life sciences expert Vanela Bushi is cofounder and partner at London-based H Tree Capital, a seed stage venture capital firm launched by Bushi and Hoxton Ventures’ cofounder Rob Kniaz. Bushi will be attending this year’s Expand North Star with the aim of connecting with the MENA startup ecosystem.
Bushi says the ecosystem feels like a “relatively untapped market” for the VC so she is curious to learn more about what the region has to offer and explore synergies with H Tree Capitals’ broader investment strategy.
“These events can be highly valuable as they compress months of networking and research into a few days, creating opportunities for serendipitous connections and insights that might not occur otherwise,” says Bushi.
As a fund, Bushi says that H Tree Capital is interested in early-stage startups on the intersection of deeptech and biotech — such as companies exploring human and planetary health — and these are topics that are especially relevant to the MENA region.
“[Events like Expand North Star offer] cross-pollination of ideas, innovations and talent pools that can lead to addressing the regions’ and global challenges,” says Bushi.
Connections from afar
While in-person connections often work best, European founders and investors who can’t make it to Dubai can still utilise services created out of the city — or attend an event in their own region.
Dubai’s strategic location at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa enables the city to serve as a launchpad for European startups that seek to expand within the region and globally.
For example, Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy — one of the three chambers operating under the umbrella of Dubai Chambers — has launched the ‘Business in Dubai’ platform, which offers a business-matching service that aims to connect companies with the right partners, investors and customers. The platform also provides access to a range of business setup services.
Expand North Star also organises regular roadshows across the world in partnership with Dubai Chambers and ecosystem partners such as VCs, incubators and accelerators as part of their efforts to attract innovative businesses and world-class digital talent to Dubai.During the first half of this year, the chamber connected with 1.5k startups in 12 cities, including in Poland, France, Switzerland, the UK and the Netherlands.
“Dubai’s strategic location at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa enables the city to serve as a launchpad for European startups that seek to expand within the region and globally,” says Lootah.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/expanding-into-mena-brnd/
