Abu Dhabi’s tech ecosystem Hub71 has selected its latest cohort of 16 startups, it said on Tuesday.
The new cohort will participate in Hub71’s Incentive Program, benefiting from equity-free incentives worth up to Dh500,000 and access to enabling programs and an ecosystem of active investors, corporate, government, and academia partners.
After a thorough evaluation process, the 16 startups were selected from more than 170 entries. The cohort -- comprising pre-seed, seed and Series-A startups -- have already raised more than $67 million collectively.
The selected startups hail from nine countries including the US, Italy, and the UK, and are specialised in sectors such as fintech, healthtech, cleantech, edtech, foodtech and logistics. In addition to homegrown startups from the UAE, the cohort also includes Hub71’s first tech company from Luxembourg.
The mix of startups includes Green Future Project, a platform for individuals and businesses to support leading climate projects globally and to track and trace environmental impact. The cohort also includes Amwal, a platform that enables people to pay, send or remit money based on their phone number, and Abhi, a fintech platform that allows salaried employees to draw upon their wage when needed.
Badr Al Olama, Acting CEO of Hub71, said: “As a partner to over 170 startups in our community, we always strive to connect founders to our global network of blue-chip corporations, government bodies and investors. With our ability to unlock real growth opportunities for founders, we expect this new cohort to gain tremendous traction over the next few months within the vibrant tech ecosystem that Abu Dhabi has to offer.”
Hub71 is backed by Mubadala Investment Company.
The Q2 cohort startups
1. Abhi: Abhi is Pakistan’s first financial wellness platform. An early wage access platform that enables salaried employees to draw down a percentage of their accrued salary before the next payroll.
2. Amwal: Amwal is a fintech company that is building an identity-powered payment that allows individuals to authenticate and pay, send, or remit money based on their phone numbers. Amwal is on a mission to provide a 3x more secure and x12 faster method to securely pay across the EMEA region.
3. archiREEF: archiREEF is a Hong Kong-based cleantech that offers climate solutions with eco-engineering approaches for ocean ecosystem restoration. They combine expertise in marine biology and the latest technologies in 3D printing to create artificial habitats that are best suited for threatened marine life.
4. Cubex Global: Cubex Global is an online marketplace for buying, bidding and selling space on sea freight containers in real time.
5. DoBrain: DoBrain is an AI-based application that offers an accessible and affordable digital cognitive learning programme for young children.
6. Gigaaa: Gigaaa is an AI personal assistant, and is designed to reduce complexity of growing connections with people, systems and services by process automation and autonomous decision making
7. GlycanAge: GlycanAge is a healthtech company designed to determine the state of one’s immune system and risk of chronic inflammation through multiple scientific methods.
8. GrubTech: GrubTech is a B2B SaaS foodtech company that provides end-to-end solutions for cloud kitchens and modern restaurants. It successfully powers 70 per cent of the market share for cloud kitchens in the region and several international restaurants across 17 countries.
9. Maalexi: Maalexi is a US-based trade and finance digital eco-system that facilitates both cross-border trade as well as financing of food and agricultural products. On Maalexi, importers can buy food and agricultural products wholesale directly from small and medium-sized suppliers, and exporters can get access to export finance for trades with credible buyers.
10. iHealthScreen: iHealthScreen utilises AI to scalably screen for retinal diseases and heart diseases. Their early-stage intervention and diagnosis can save countless lives and massive amounts on downtime spending.
11. Islamic Finance Guru: Islamic Finance Guru is a one stop shop for all Muslims globally to get their finances and investments in order. Their flagship product, IFG Wealth, helps achieve all this seamlessly.
12. Lune: Lune’s unified financial data platform provides solutions across financial management, data enrichment and analysis - all the while providing the customer with a personalised experience that empowers them along their financial journey.
13. OnEx: OnEx is a one stop shop for medical manufactures worldwide to export and manage their businesses overseas. Today, OnEx is the only portal that is designed to help manufacturers assign distributors worldwide.
14. Yoello: Yoello is a payments platform building infrastructure that connects banks and payment networks to merchants and consumers.
15. Perceptiviti: Perceptiviti is a deep technology company focused on fraud and risk management. They help the largest insurers digitize and automate claims, stop leakages and fight fraud using Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing and Computer Vision.
16. Green Future Project: Green Future Project simplify access to effective climate solutions and empower individuals to have an active role in reversing climate change. The platform allows user to track, trace and visualise their impact in real-time.
