Start-ups from across the globe look to woo investors with transformational tech shifts at world’s largest start-up event in Dubai
Expand North Star 2023 accelerates
global VC investment revival as deep tech
game-changers choose Dubai as launch-pad for global
growth
Record number of Indian start-ups to
converge at four-day event’s new iconic Dubai Harbour venue
Dubai, UAE: 12 October 2023: India’s
burgeoning entrepreneurial spirit and proliferation of
next-gen deep tech talent will take centre-stage next
week in Dubai, as the world’s largest start-up event
prepares to host the biggest showcase of Indian
start-ups ever seen outside the south-central Asian
nation.
Hosted by Dubai Chamber of Digital
Economy, one of the three chambers under the umbrella
of Dubai Chambers, Expand North Star 2023 together
will feature more than 1,800 exhibiting start-ups from
100-plus countries at its new Dubai Harbour venue from
15-18 October. This includes 200 breakthrough Indian
companies choosing the emirate as their launchpad to
scale up globally.
From international award-winning
Google accelerated gaming innovators, to producers of
de-carbonised protein for the US$500 billion animal
feed industry, game-changers from the world’s
third-largest start-up ecosystem are gathering in
Dubai to woo investors and secure customers for global
expansion.
Sustainable Agri-tech the
formidable foundation of future commerce
Among the pioneering start-ups at
Expand North Star’s new India Central feature is
Noval Sustainability, which is launching DE-Carbon,
an animal feed protein recycled from waste that,
according to Founder Siva Sanker, is formulated to
substantially reduce the environmental footprint of
the carbon-heavy feed and meat industries.
“We will showcase the tech behind
recovering protein from waste,” said Sankar, who will
demonstrate at Expand North Star how Noval
Sustainability’s manufacturing process decarbonises
one of the world’s largest and most-polluting
industries.
“The world wastes more than 30
percent of the food that is produced, and the same
ratio holds for the amount of
proteins wasted from meat consumption. We are
bridging the gap with a solution, and there’s a
humongous untapped economic value in this waste. With
an inclusion of just one percent of alternative
proteins in animal feed, we’re looking at a US$500
billion industry.”
Scaling-up through deep tech
immersive gaming
Elsewhere, investors in the US$300
billion gaming industry will see a fresh injection of
deep tech gaming platforms, spearheaded by Tuttifrutti
Interactive’s Sophia’s Adventures fantasy themed game
that uses cinematic quality Unreal 5 Nanite
technology.
Ajish Habib, CEO of Tuttifrutti
Interactive, a Google-accelerated, Epic Games Mega
Grant recipient, and winner of 15 international
awards, said Sophia’s Adventures alpha version will
redefine the female gaming market, propelling the
company, and potential seed angel investors, to
exponential growth.
“With its official launch for Sony
PlayStation and VR2 market, Tuttifrutti will grow a
minimum four times by 2025, and with an upcoming half
a dozen IP games, we’ll scale-up over 165 times by
2028, targeting revenues of US$80 million,” said
Habib.
“Immersive game tech coupled with AI
and deep tech will revolutionise the gaming market,
and we’re leveraging AI in all aspects in our product
development, from designing game emotions, and
fine-tuning design, to marketing, and customer
acquisition.”
Unveiling growth roadmaps
Manifested through its power-packed
conference programme, Expand North Star will present
key Indian unicorn founders will unveil the critical
global growth path to unstoppable success.
Headliners include Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO
& Co-Founder of Ola Cabs & Ola Electric,
India’s largest ridesharing company with over 1.5
million drivers; and Abiraj Singh Bhal, CEO &
Founder of Urban Company, a Series F $2.8 billion
company offering the largest home services platform in
India and UAE.
Expand North Star’s 10X Stage will also
feature Rajan Anandan, Managing Director of Peak XV
and Surge, a rapid scale-up programme for start-ups in
India and Southeast Asia. Anandan is focusing on
developing Surge into the world’s top scale-up
programme for start-ups by acting as an investment
advisor and mentor to the programme’s founders. He
will share his visions for India’s booming start-up
ecosystem for 2023 and beyond.
Forging deep cross-border economic
ties to accelerate growth
Ballooning to nearly double that of
the previous year, Indian participation at Expand
North Star 2023 comes as the UAE and India continue to
amplify bi-lateral trade and investment opportunities.
Under the Comprehensive Economic
Partnership Agreement, the UAE and India plan to
double the value of non-oil trade from 2023 to 2030,
reaching US$100 billion. According to Dubai Chambers,
30 percent of the emirate’s start-ups are
Indian-owned, while 83,000 Indian companies are
registered in Dubai. Indian firms and non-resident
Indian owned entities have also created more than one
million UAE jobs.
Expand North Star 2023 will intensify
these achievements, convening more than 1,000 tech
investors and Venture Capitalists from 70 countries
with US$1 trillion of capital to inspire, and scale-up
the world’s most sought-after start-ups.
Expand North Star is the powerhouse
start-up event inspired by GITEX GLOBAL, the world’s
largest tech show, which takes place from 16-20
October at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). The
blockbuster duo, organised by DWTC, are spearheading
the world’s biggest tech takeover in Dubai, spanning
2.7 million sq. ft. of exhibition space – a 40 percent
increase over the previous year.
More information is available at www.expandnorthstar.com