About GEN in UAE

The Global Entrepreneurship Network began working in the United Arab Emirates in 2008. The country participated in the inaugural Global Entrepreneurship Week in 2008, with the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) serving as the national host. Early GEW activities were led primarily by private sector hubs and universities across the Emirates, laying the groundwork for a campaign that would grow steadily over the years and serve as part of wider efforts to move the nation from being one orientated around passive SMEs to one that understood and promoted innovative new firm formation.

In 2010, Dubai took center stage at GEN.  Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, then Minister for Higher Education and Technology, invited GEN to host the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) for the first time overseas and it was then convened at the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai. The event brought together delegates from 90 nations and set a precedent that it could and should rotate beyond its founding home in the United States. That decision proved formative: GEC Dubai is widely credited with establishing the model for the GEC being held in a different nation each year, which has since been to Shanghai, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Medellin, Milan, Liverpool, Bahrain, Riyadh, Melbourne, and beyond.

The UAE's importance as a new hub for global entrepreneurship gatherings was further underscored in 2012, when Dubai hosted the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), a separate and complementary event to the GEC, initiated by President Obama and organized by GEN on behalf of the U.S. State Department to connect entrepreneurs and investors from around the world. The GES in Dubai served as a major catalyst for formalizing and elevating the UAE's broader entrepreneurship ecosystem, helping to draw sustained engagement from organizations like Dubai SME and the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, both of which began more consistently aligning local programming with Global Entrepreneurship Week.

GEW in the UAE has continued to grow in scale and official recognition. Dubai SME has remained a consistent lead for Dubai-based GEW workshops and competitions, while the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development (Khalifa Fund) has served as the primary coordinator for Abu Dhabi's involvement, focusing on financing and SME growth. The UAE Ministry of Economy has increasingly taken on a convening role, and has been a long-term member of the GEN’s Startup Nations policymaker community, with H.E. Abdulla AlSaleh, Undersecretary, joining the 2019 Startup Nations Ministerial in Bahrain.

GEN's reach in the UAE extends directly to local founders through for example the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC), a global startup pitch competition created by GEN with partners in Saudi Arabia offering $1 million in combined cash prizes annually. Startupscale360 FZE became the national host organization when EWC launched in the UAE for the first time in 2022 — and the results were immediate. “Through the Entrepreneurship World Cup, the United Arab Emirates has witnessed the extraordinary potential of its homegrown talent,” said Swethal Kumar, founder and CEO of Startupscale360 FZE. “As the national host, Startupscale360 is proud to have nurtured and supported a thriving ecosystem of entrepreneurs. The three UAE finalists who reached the top global 100 have showcased immense talents and our country's innovation prowess on a global stage. Among them, Desert Control's victory in the environment and sustainability category exemplified the UAE's commitment to tackling pressing environmental challenges.” That national effort earned Startupscale360 the EWC Campaign of the Year Compass Award from GEN in 2023.

UAE startups have placed finalists in five separate EWC years to date: Amal Glass (2019), Awecademy and Key2enable Assistive Technology (2020), Augmental Ltd (2021), AHAD and Wayout International (2022), Audiomatic (2024 — placing second in the Idea Stage category and winning $25,000), and AHAD and Hulexo (2025). Each finalist competed for a share of $1 million in prizes at the EWC Global Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and received access to live training, mentorship, and connections to global investors.

Dubai has also been home to a chapter of Startup Huddle, GEN's program that builds startup communities through regular local meetups gathering the community together around specific startups or founders.  The Dubai chapter provides structured peer support and mentorship to the emirate's growing founder community. On the investment side, Emirates Angels — a prominent UAE angel investor network, led by Jassim Al Rahma — is a member of GEN's Global Business Angels Network (GBAN), connecting UAE-based investors to GEN's global investor community through GEN Invest.  Dubai was also a driver for GEN’s efforts to foster the emergence of more angel investor groups in Riyadh.

GEN has enjoyed invaluable collaborations with UAE ecosystem stakeholders, including the Ministry of Economy, Dubai SME, the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, Startupscale360 FZE, Emirates Angels, Hub71, DIFC FinTech Hive, and Expo Live.

Dubai has also attracted a number of GEN’s leadership from other continents such as Africa, Asia and Europe who continue to engage with GEN as new members of the UAE ecosystem.  For example, Yatin Thakur who led the growth of GEN in India in early years, resides in the UAE and serves there as a GEN Global Leader, bringing to Dubai a depth of experience built across years of ecosystem development work and experience with GEN. 

GEN’s leadership – including its president, Jonathan Ortmans, has maintained an active presence in the UAE , supporting programs and events in this country that has so quickly risen to be a major global startup capital ranking alongside the likes of San Francisco, New York and Singapore.

Looking ahead GEN plans to expand its engagement, including supporting the UAE’s “The Emirates: The Startup Capital of the World campaign launch in September 2025 and has recently appointed Dr. Khaja Abdul Mutalib and Ahmed Waqar Mohsin as GEN Global Leaders to work with GEN Global in building on our work overall to date in the country.