Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem, is collaborating with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to provide tech startups with support to build scalable and secure cloud-based services that accelerate their growth.

Announced at GITEX, the collaboration offers Hub71 startups access to AWS Activate, a program that provides tools and resources to help startups innovate and scale faster. Through AWS, startups can experiment frequently and optimize business performance, while reducing technology costs. Hub71 startups will benefit from AWS Activate credits worth up to US$100,000 for each, in addition to AWS Support credits. They will also have access to technical support and architectural guidance from AWS Cloud support engineers, as well as technical and business success training by AWS experts.

H.E. Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, said “Abu Dhabi is on the cusp of widespread digital transformation that will positively impact all innovation-focused businesses in the emirate. The collaboration between ADIO, AWS, and Hub71 intensifies Abu Dhabi’s support for startups, ensuring that innovators and entrepreneurs can take full advantage of the wave of digitisation sweeping across all sectors and take their businesses to the next level. From technical guidance to infrastructure requirements, startups will have complete access to all the support they need to succeed. In parallel with Abu Dhabi’s innovation focus, ADIO is committed to providing businesses of all sizes with an enabling environment to pursue impactful solutions.”

AWS is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud offering, with more than 200 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, security, hybrid, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), media, and application development, deployment, and management.

Jida Itani, Chief Operating Officer, Hub71, said “Our support infrastructure for the startups community continues to expand the more we learn about our founders’ needs. Joining forces with Amazon Web Services unleashes a multitude of opportunities for our startups, who will be able to take more advantage of cloud solutions as they look at scaling their businesses. Marc Andreessen once said in an interview that ‘software will take over the world’, and today we see that, with all our successful startups with robust tech stacks that are shaping the technological landscape and contributing to a notable economic shift.”

Isabella Groegor-Cechowicz, Vice President of Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), AWS Worldwide Public Sector, said “Cloud computing has revolutionized the way businesses operate, especially for startups. We are pleased to be extending our collaboration with ADIO and supporting Hub71 to empower startups to use AWS Cloud to innovate and grow. With the upcoming launch of the AWS data centres in the UAE, startups will have even greater access to advanced, secure infrastructure and technologies to bring their ideas to life and scale rapidly.”