Hub71 Selects 27 Startups for Cohort 18 in First All-International Intake After Record 2,453 Applications

• Selected startups have raised an average of USD 8.5 million (AED 31.2 million), reflecting the highest ever of any cohort, with total funding of nearly USD 230 million (AED 844.7 million)

Abu Dhabi, UAE – June 2026: Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem, has selected 27 startups to join its Access Programme as part of Cohort 18, following a record 2,453 applications from 112 countries. The selected startups have raised an average of USD 8.5 million (AED 31.2 million), with total funding of nearly USD 230 million (AED 844.7 million), reflecting the calibre and market readiness of companies choosing Abu Dhabi as a base for international growth.

With 27 startups selected, Cohort 18 represents a highly competitive 1.1% acceptance rate. For the first time, 100% of the selected startups are headquartered outside the UAE, reflecting Abu Dhabi’s appeal to founders worldwide as a leading global tech startup hub that attracts and anchors high-growth ventures within its ecosystem. All selected startups are currently undergoing licensing and establishing operations in Abu Dhabi, demonstrating the ease with which startups can establish and operate from Abu Dhabi.

Notably, 31% of applications were referred through Hub71’s partner and founder networks, underscoring strong confidence in the ecosystem and the increasing role of community-driven sourcing in attracting high-growth startups.

All 27 startups will enter Hub71’s sector-agnostic Access programme or specialist ecosystems: Hub71+ Digital Assets, Hub71+ ClimateTech and Hub71+ Life Sciences. The mix reflects Abu Dhabi’s priorities in building new engines of growth across regulated digital finance, climate and industrial technologies, and health innovation. Seven startups will join Hub71+ Life Sciences, alongside six in Hub71+ Digital Assets and five in Hub71+ ClimateTech.

Ahmad Ali Alwan, CEO of Hub71, said: “Cohort 18 reflects the continued flow of startups choosing to build from Abu Dhabi. The companies joining us are developing technologies with clear market application and the ability to scale. At Hub71, we enable founders to secure commercial traction and capital, and to grow from Abu Dhabi into global markets.”

Among the notable startups joining Hub71 is EchoTwin AI, a US-based startup that transforms municipal fleets into mobile sensing networks, creating real-time digital twins to help municipalities detect, predict and resolve infrastructure and compliance issues. The company has raised USD 8 million (AED 29.4 million) in funding. Also joining is Duck from Kenya, a retail data access platform that brings sales and inventory systems together into a single interface to help brands restock faster and avoid lost sales. The startup has raised USD 295K (AED 1.1 million) to date.

The startups that have joined Hub71+ Life Sciences include UK-startup, Amilis, which has raised USD 1.6 million (AED 5.9 million) to develop an AI-powered clinical decision support platform that integrates patient data to improve diagnosis and management of complex reproductive health conditions.

The startups that will scale through Hub71+ Digital Assets include Wingbits from Sweden, a global network of tracking stations that streams high-quality flight data to provide real-time air traffic visibility and has raised USD 9.4 million (AED 34.5 million) in funding.

Meanwhile, selected startups joining Hub71+ ClimateTech include Persium, a UK-based startup that has secured USD 1.7 million (AED 6.2 million) to accelerate the development of miniaturised air quality sensors and AI-powered digital twins to measure and reduce air pollution.

Bringing together startups from 12 countries across Pre-Seed to Series A stages, the new cohort underscores Abu Dhabi’s ability to attract high-growth startups from around the world. This is further demonstrated by the inclusion of Indian startups such as Uravu Labs, a ClimateTech company focused on water solutions and Endimension Technology, an AI-first radiology platform, highlighting the strengthening innovation corridor between the UAE and India under the UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

Three startups from Hong Kong, Pubrio, Craftt and KPay have also joined Cohort 18 after participating in Hub71’s Hong Kong Immersion Programme launched last year, demonstrating the programme’s effectiveness in strengthening Abu Dhabi’s position as a global launchpad and converting international engagement into long-term relocation and expansion within the ecosystem. KPay, a fintech platform, has raised USD 65 million (AED 238.7 million) and is expanding its operations from Abu Dhabi, where it will support businesses in managing payments and financial operations.

Hub71’s 12-month Access Programme will offer Cohort 18 startups up to AED 250,000 in in-kind incentives and AED 250,000 in cash via a SAFE note, alongside tailored mentorship, investor introductions, regulatory support and access to Hub71’s corporate and government partners. Top-performing startups may also qualify for follow-on support, enabling them to scale further from Abu Dhabi to global markets.

With the latest cohort, Hub71’s startup ecosystem has grown to 525 companies, further reinforcing Abu Dhabi’s position as one of the fastest-growing emerging innovation ecosystems in MENA.

The 27 startups selected to join Hub71’s Cohort 18 include:

Access Programme:

1. Duck is a retail data access platform that connects fragmented POS and ERP systems into a single API, helping brands restock faster and avoid lost sales.
2. EchoTwin AI is a Physical AI platform that transforms municipal fleets into mobile sensing networks, creating real-time digital twins that help cities see, think, and act.
3. InsightGenie is an AI and behavioral science platform that assesses people for lending, hiring and wellness using voice, video and digital signals, even without formal data.
4. KPay Group is a leading financial technology company, providing a one-stop financial management and business operations platform for merchants of all sizes.
5. Mugafi is an AI-powered storytelling platform that enables creators to develop new IP and allows fans and studios to fund and co-own projects through blockchain-based ownership.
6. Neuphonic is a voice AI platform that builds efficient models capable of running on any device, enabling real-time voice interactions at scale.
7. Pubrio is an AI-native B2B data infrastructure that glocalizes fragmented business, people, and intent signals into a single structured layer, delivering real-time global intelligence for GTM teams and AI agents.
8. Siin is building the Gulf’s live shopping network, where trusted sellers stream, chat, and auction collectibles in real time with payments, shipping, and buyer protection built in.
9. Solaya is an AI platform that creates brand-accurate, photorealistic 3D assets from a smartphone in minutes for eCommerce, AR/VR and digital twins.

Hub71+ Digital Assets:

1. Craftt is a tokenized credit infrastructure delivering efficient liquidity to global fintechs through asset-backed financing and forward flow, while offering investors risk-adjusted yields—supported by the privacy-first Open Finance ID for enhanced underwriting.
2. Fortytwo is a networked AI that unifies multiple models into a single intelligence that consistently outperforms frontier LLMs, peer-reviewing outputs to reduce hallucinations and prevent prompt injection.
3. Jia is building the financial infrastructure for emerging-market SMEs, using tokenized receivables and stablecoin rails to connect local businesses directly to global capital markets.
4. Startale Group is a leading global crypto solutions provider building Soneium, Strium, the Startale App, USDSC (a USD-backed stablecoin), and JPYSC (a JPY-backed stablecoin).
5. Warehaus brings real-world inventory on-chain as verifiable digital representations, enabling assets to be accessed and transferred without requiring physical movement. By expanding beyond traditional warehouses to include infrastructure such as pipelines and in-transit supply chains, Warehaus unlocks new flexibility, transparency, and interoperability for physical assets.
6. Wingbits is a global network of tracking stations that stream high-quality flight data for real-time air traffic visibility to various companies and regulators.

Hub71+ ClimateTech:

1. Insight Solutions is an AI-powered waste management platform that uses sensors, cameras and predictive analytics to optimize collection and reduce costs.
2. Persium combines its advanced air quality & environmental sensors with its AI-powered digital twinning platform to tackle air pollution globally.
3. Phlair builds a fully electric, load-flexible electrochemical Direct Air Capture (DAC) to capture CO₂ for storage or utilization.
4. Umami Bioworks develops cultivated seafood using a proprietary platform, which integrates machine learning, stem cell biology, and automation to accelerate product development and scaling.
5. Uravu Labs has developed a device that captures atmospheric moisture and turns it into high-quality water and cooling using low-grade heat, making it suitable for industrial and data centre applications, especially in water-stressed regions.

Hub71+ Life Sciences:

1. Amilis is an AI data infrastructure that turns everyday care into intelligence, enabling doctors to spot patterns sooner, diagnose faster, and improve patient outcomes, bridging critical gaps for prevalent, often overlooked reproductive-health conditions.
2. Digistain is a medical technology company that uses an AI-driven spectral signature platform to assess breast cancer recurrence risk at the point-of-care with same day turnaround, costing half the price for more efficient clinical-decisioning.
3. Endimension Technology is an AI-first radiology platform that automates abnormality detection, triage and reporting, enabling hospitals to deliver faster, more accurate and 24×7 diagnostic services.
4. Matregenix develops advanced nanofiber-based biomaterials that mimic native tissue architecture to regenerate damaged soft tissue—engineered synthetic alternatives to costly animal- and human-derived materials.
5. Rubedo Life Sciences uses their AI platform to map “zombie” (senescent) cells that cause inflammaging and develop targeted drugs to remove them for healthy longevity.
6. Sigmatic is launching its AI-native operating system and tech-enabled management platform to bring the high-efficiency outpatient and surgery center model to the MENA region, elevating patient care while dramatically lowering the cost of healthcare delivery.
7. Verbal AI Technologies ensures every patient interaction follows protocol, replacing manual audits with real-time clinical compliance verification across human and AI-driven care.

About Hub71:

Hub71 is Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem that enables founders to build globally enduring homegrown tech companies in any sector by providing access to global markets, a capital ecosystem, a global network of partners, and a vibrant community filled with highly skilled talent governed by forward-thinking regulation.

Backed by the Government of Abu Dhabi and Mubadala Investment Company, Hub71 is growing its vibrant community of tech startups, investors, government, and corporate partners to ensure the availability of investment, commercial activities, and incentives from the public and private sectors. Through Hub71’s entrepreneurial infrastructure, value-add programmes, enabling services and support packages, founders can build, and scale widely adopted technologies with purpose and impact. Hub71 is on a mission to introduce new minds and technologies to Abu Dhabi, finding new ways to build globally enduring technology companies and sustain the nation’s continuous economic development.