Global start-ups 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

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 the 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 Emirates 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 is 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 decarbonizes 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 who 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 bilateral 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 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, organized by DWTC, is 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.