Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy has successfully supported the establishment and expansion of 1,210 digital startups in Dubai in 2024, representing an increase of 120% compared to 2023, underlining Dubai’s growing appeal among entrepreneurs and startups specialising in key digital sectors.
H.E. Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications and Chairman of Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, emphasised the importance of enhancing efforts to maximise the potential of advanced technology sectors, increasing their contribution to the growth of Dubai’s economy, and sustaining initiatives aimed at developing and empowering national talent in smart applications. Additionally, he highlighted the need to stimulate the growth of digital startups to capitalise on promising opportunities in Dubai.
His Excellency added: “The Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy is committed to ensuring the sustainable growth of digital economy sectors and expanding its promising opportunities. This will be achieved by enhancing the infrastructure and regulatory framework of a business ecosystem that fosters the prosperity of companies specialising in future technologies, supporting efforts to elevate Dubai’s competitiveness and digital economy.”
Last year, the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy organised the ‘Create Apps in Dubai’ initiative and ran a successful competition designed to enhance Dubai’s status as a hub for smart application development and attract creative talent to the emirate.
The competition, which encourages participants to present their ideas for mobile app development, attracted more than 1,100 entries and garnered widespread international attention. UAE participants accounted for 70% of submissions, with international entries from 64 countries making up the remaining 30%. A total of 247 ideas were shortlisted for the competition, culminating in 12 finalists competing on the event’s last day. Ultimately, four winners of the competition were honoured across award categories.
As part of the same initiative, the chamber also trained 1,333 Emiratis in the fundamentals of mobile application development in 2024, achieving growth of 170% compared to the previous year. The programme was launched to triple the number of app developers in Dubai by 2025, as well as to support 100 new national projects for the development of cutting-edge mobile applications.
Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy organised 20 international roadshows during 2024 to promote opportunities in Dubai’s evolving digital landscape and raise awareness surrounding Expand North Star, the world’s largest event for startups and investors.
Hosted by Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy in collaboration with Dubai World Trade Centre in October, the 2024 edition of Expand North Star attracted unprecedented participation. The event’s success was reflected in increased numbers of visitors and exhibitors, together with the exceptional quality of innovations on display and the participation of several new countries. Expand North Star 2024 attracted over 1,800 startups and more than 1,200 investors from 100 countries managing over US$ 1 trillion in assets under management. The exhibition also featured 65 unicorn companies with a combined market value exceeding US$ 400 billion.
The chamber’s ‘Business in Dubai’ platform continued to support companies seeking to establish or expand their operations in Dubai. The platform offers a comprehensive range of institutional services in collaboration with 77 partners, together with business-matching services to help companies identify the right partners, investors, and customers to support their growth.
Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy organised 21 events during 2024 to support the business community, empower startups, nurture talent, strengthen partnerships, and improve the business ecosystem.
The chamber also signed a total of 12 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with regional and international entities to bolster cooperation in key digital economy sectors and issued six economic reports and studies reflecting the dynamism and resilience of Dubai’s digital economy.
