No fewer than 1,800 start-ups from 100-plus countries across the globe will be looking to woo investors with transformational tech shifts at the world’s largest start-up event in Dubai next week.
Expand North Star 2023 (hosted by Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, one of the three chambers under the umbrella of Dubai Chambers) will intensify these achievements, convening more than 1,000 tech investors and Venture Capitalists from 70 countries with $1 trillion of capital to inspire, and scale-up the world’s most sought-after start-ups.
Also featuring at the world’s largest tech show includes 200 breakthrough Indian companies choosing the emirate as their launchpad to scale up globally.
Expand North Star is the powerhouse start-up event inspired by GITEX GLOBAL, the world’s largest tech show, which takes place from October 16-20 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).
India’s burgeoning entrepreneurial spirit and proliferation of next-gen deep tech talent will take centre-stage 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,
From international award-winning Google accelerated gaming innovators, to producers of de-carbonised protein for the $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.
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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 are looking at a $500 billion industry.”
Elsewhere, investors in the $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 will scale-up over 165 times by 2028, targeting revenues of $80 million,” said Habib.
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“Immersive game tech coupled with AI and deep tech will revolutionise the gaming market, and we are leveraging AI in all aspects in our product development, from designing game emotions, and fine-tuning design, to marketing, and customer acquisition.”
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.
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 $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.
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.
