UAE-based GEMS Education launches $1 million fund to support student start-ups

Dubai: UAE-headquartered GEMS Education on Monday launched the ‘Next Billion Innovation’ start-up fund, a new initiative designed to empower and support GEMS students in delivering the next big solutions with the potential to make a global impact.

The $1 million fund will initially be made available to students at GEMS’ newest school, GEMS School of Research and Innovation (SRI), opening in Dubai in August 2025, the group announced.

Pupils of SRI, said to become the most expensive school in Dubai, will also have priority access to hands-on support and direct pathways to global start-up ecosystems, thanks to the group’s partnership with an innovation platform which provides an incubator programme for the most promising student projects.

Who else will be eligible?

Following the first phase, access to the new fund will be expanded to encompass the longstanding annual GEMS Global Innovation Challenge (GIC), which invites students from all GEMS schools to develop solutions that address pressing global challenges and have the potential to make a significant positive impact on society.

Ideas into impactful solutions

Sunny Varkey, Chairman and Founder of GEMS Education and The Varkey Foundation, said: “The entrepreneurial mindset doesn’t have an age barrier. At GEMS Education, we have always been passionate about supporting our student innovators in transforming their ideas into impactful solutions that can be taken to market and that will eventually help make the world a better place.”

“The Next Billion Innovation start-up fund represents our long-term commitment to fostering the next generation of global leaders and entrepreneurs. We are investing $1 million to ensure our students need not look elsewhere for funding — because the best ideas should be driven by passion, not financial constraints,” he said.

Most expensive school

Earlier in January, the group announced the launch of GEMS SRI, which is claimed to be the most innovative and premium school in Dubai. It is also dubbed to be the most expensive school in Dubai with yearly fees ranging from Dh116,000 for Foundation 1 to Dh206,000 for Year 13. The annual fees for Year 6 will be Dh152,000, Maryssa O’Connor, Vice-President of Education, GEMS Education, told Gulf News in an earlier interview.

On Monday, the group said GEMS SRI is set to host a dedicated creator and entrepreneurship academy that will provide students with year-round access to state-of-the-art facilities including a ‘Disruption Hub’, innovation rooms, and design labs.

From these spaces, students will be able to develop, prototype, and launch their ideas with direct mentorship from industry leaders, university research labs, entrepreneurs, and specialist educators.

From AI-powered start-ups to cutting-edge product design, the academy is set to empower students and foster the next generation of creators and changemakers.

Trailblazer’s track record

Already, GEMS students can point to a long track record of entrepreneurial breakthroughs that have made global headlines. These include Aadit Palicha, a former student of GEMS Modern Academy, who quit Stanford University to set up Zepto, which provides top-quality groceries to the doors of millions of customers in India and has been valued at $5 billion. Aadit is just 22 years old.

Through the Next Billion Innovation start-up fund, the most promising solutions developed by GEMS students will have the opportunity to attract investment to further develop and scale their projects, paving the way for substantial growth and impact, the group stated.