Expand North Star 2025 concludes, reflecting Dubai’s key role in shaping future of digital entrepreneurship

Artificial intelligence topped the list of key sectors represented at Expand North Star 2025, with 22 percent of participating companies specializing in AI

Expand North Star 2025 concluded on Wednesday with an exceptional showcase that brought together leading innovators and investors in advanced technologies from around the world under one roof. The event reinforced its status as the world’s largest gathering for startups and investors, reflecting Dubai’s pivotal role in shaping the future of digital entrepreneurship. Its record success further highlighted the emirate’s position as a global center for the development of advanced technologies and a dynamic platform for forging strategic investment partnerships in the digital economy.

Strong local participation reflects the evolution of the UAE’s digital business environment

Organized by Dubai World Trade Center and hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, Expand North Star 2025 attracted over 2,000 startups and more than 1,200 investors managing assets worth $1.1 trillion. The event also featured the founders of 40 unicorn companies with a combined valuation of $900 billion.

UAE-based companies made a strong showing at Expand North Star 2025, with around 500 digital startups headquartered in the UAE, including 116 Emirati-owned enterprises. The event also featured 50 startups participating in the ‘Emaratipreneur’ initiative, which highlighted the contributions of the new generation of Emirati innovators and entrepreneurs.

Their participation reflected the evolution of the UAE’s digital business environment, as well as the competitiveness of Emirati talent and local companies specializing in advanced technology sectors.

Meanwhile, startups from Asia accounted for approximately 41 percent of all participating companies, followed by those from Europe, North America, and Latin America. Expand North Star 2025 also witnessed the first participation of national pavilions from new countries, including the United States, Syria, Ecuador and Chile.

The addition of these pavilions reflects the event’s growing global appeal as one of the world’s leading platforms for business and innovation. Indian participation was particularly strong, with around 300 startups, while Brazil marked its largest participation in the event’s history, with over 50 Brazilian startups taking part.

Artificial intelligence companies take center stage

Artificial intelligence topped the list of key sectors represented at Expand North Star 2025, with 22 percent of participating companies specializing in AI. A further 13 percent focused on climate tech, operating across energy, agriculture and food; 11 percent specialized in healthtech; and 11 percent operated in fintech.

Other participating companies represented sectors such as education technology, deep tech, adtech, mobility, cybersecurity and smart cities.

The event’s appeal was further enhanced by several new features and specialized zones added to this year’s program. These included:

• ScaleX, a curated market access program for 50 of the world’s fastest-growing tech scaleups.
• North Star Green Impact, a new zone spotlighting startups driving climate and environmental innovation.
• The Deeptech MEA Summit
• The Digital Assets Forum.

These new features provided visitors with valuable insights into emerging technology trends shaping the future of innovation and startup growth.

Read| Expand North Star 2025: Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, 28DIGITAL collaborate to enhance business opportunities for tech startups

Visitors explore Dubai’s business programs

Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy’s pavilion attracted significant numbers of attendees throughout the event. Visitors learned about Dubai’s digital business environment and explored the chamber’s ‘Launchpad Dubai’ program, which offered a package of services from partners to support business establishment and growth in the emirate, including the issuance of Golden Visas.

The pavilion also enabled Expand North Star 2025 attendees to learn more about the ‘Business in Dubai’ platform, which forms a key pillar of the chamber’s efforts to attract and empower digital companies.

Building on the remarkable success of this year’s edition, Expand North Star has reinforced its position as a cornerstone of the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy’s strategy to advance Dubai’s vision of becoming a global capital for innovation and technology.

The event continues to play a pivotal role in stimulating economic growth, attracting the global tech community to Dubai, and providing a powerful platform for innovation, collaboration, and engagement with the world’s most influential figures from the tech industry.