Start-up Addenda presenting during an MIT Enterprise Forum x Hub71 pitch night event in front of potential investors. Courtesy Hub71
Start-up Addenda presenting during an MIT Enterprise Forum x Hub71 pitch night event in front of potential investors. Courtesy Hub71
Start-up Addenda presenting during an MIT Enterprise Forum x Hub71 pitch night event in front of potential investors. Courtesy Hub71
Start-up Addenda presenting during an MIT Enterprise Forum x Hub71 pitch night event in front of potential investors. Courtesy Hub71

Abu Dhabi's Hub71 marks first year as it adapts to challenging times


Kelsey Warner
  • English
  • Arabic

About a year ago, Abu Dhabi’s start-up space Hub71 opened its doors on Al Maryah Island. It was the capital’s boldest step to becoming a destination for technology entrepreneurs.

The space, created with Dh520 million from Abu Dhabi’s Ghadan 21 stimulus programme, is attracting high-tech founders and the people who support them. There are 39 start-ups from 8 different countries, a half dozen venture capital funds and global technology players like Microsoft and Chinese AI giant SenseTime under one roof. The start-ups, mostly early stage, have attracted $100 million in venture capital to date. Hub71 has built the community with support from funding and strategic partnerships with Mubadala, SoftBank Vision Fund, Microsoft and Abu Dhabi Global Market.

But today, Hub71 is tackling its biggest challenge yet - and having to adapt like never before.

As the world faces down a pandemic, economic uncertainty looms over the community as shut borders, reeling stock markets and vast swaths of the private sector are at a standstill while the public health crisis is addressed.

Earlier this year, Hub71 set a target of attracting a total  of 100 ventures by the end of 2020. Its chief executive told The National the goal remains, and start-up founders, investors and private partners who spoke to The National said that Hub71's aim is still realistic.

“I think that this global crisis is going to teach us a lot about how we are using tech around the world,” Ibrahim Ajami, acting chief executive of Hub71 and head of ventures at Mubadala Capital, said. “We might admit some companies to Hub71 and if they can’t [physically] get here for six months the question is, how do we support them remotely?”

RedCrow Intelligence, a Palestinian start-up, is finding that out firsthand.

The company provides real-time intelligence to anticipate security risks and was in the midst of moving a half dozen of their technical staff to Hub71. That was put on hold in early March as the global spread of Covid-19 led to travel bans.

Chief executive Hussein Nasser-Eddin of Red Crow Intelligence, making a pitch at Hub71. Reem Mohammed/The National
Chief executive Hussein Nasser-Eddin of Red Crow Intelligence, making a pitch at Hub71. Reem Mohammed/The National

Chief executive and co-founder Hussein Nasser-Eddin spoke to The National from Jerusalem. He has been encouraged by the amount of communication from Hub71 and said introductions to potential investors and customers were still happening even from afar.

“They are following up remotely and talking us up to investors,” Mr Nasser-Eddin said, adding the company is working to close an investment round of $1.6m to support expansion in Mena over the next 18 months and to land a number of regional contracts.

Predictive data science, like that used in China and Singapore to help officials contain the outbreak, is getting a boost amid the crisis as other counties like the US consider adopting it. This may help RedCrow Intelligence find a bigger market for its services.

Since getting accepted earlier this year into the Hub71 incentive programme - which includes subsidised housing, health insurance and office space for the first two years - RedCrow has gotten invitations to pitch to the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (Adio) and Mubadala for funding, and been invited to several industry events to seek new business deals.

Hub71 “triggers connections. Being part of such an ecosystem, it’s all about building a network. And Hub71 is the bridge to accomplish that”, Mr Nasser-Eddin said. With some planning and caution, he thinks Hub71 can still be that bridge, even from afar and amid the uncertainty.

“We just need to be smart.”

For Lamsa, one of the oldest Abu Dhabi start-ups at eight years old, Hub71 has been a major change from what was once a lonely existence for a tech venture in the emirate. The EdTech company has nearly 30 developers and animators working from the WeWork managed co-working space at Hub71, and was among the first start-ups to join the new community.

Since moving to Al Maryah a year ago, they are lonely no more.

Amid school and daycare closures across the GCC, Lamsa founder Badr Ward told The National his company has found "the right place, the right time, working on the right problem".

Earlier this month, the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority said it would offer unlimited access to the Lamsa app for children until April 9, putting Mr Ward’s products in the hands of tens of thousands of potential new clients.

For now, the company says the aim is to simply enable Arabic-speaking children to keep learning amid school closures. But it could prove to be a boon for the start-up.

“I really wish for the fast recovery of the school systems but after this crisis the role of the teacher and technology will change,” Mr Ward said. “The whole world has woken up that [remote learning] is not just a ‘nice to have’.

He added that he has gotten more calls and emails from regional and international investors "than the entire journey of Lamsa” in the recent days.

His company is looking to close a multimillion-dollar capital raise to fund expansion in research and automation, which is currently undertaken in Finland and Berlin, respectively.

Attracting researchers to base themselves in Abu Dhabi “who are really in their comfort zones, in their academic institute” abroad can be a challenge and R&D is an expensive part of any EdTech venture, Mr Ward admits.

“We have to be pragmatic to slowly attract them to be based here,” he said. Progress is incremental, but it is happening.

“For years I was preaching, Abu Dhabi is great, but people felt it was really far away and not too relevant. Now the conversation is, ‘tell me more, can I come visit?’”

Rabih Khoury, partner and chief exit officer at Middle East Venture Partners, which is a Hub71 venture capital partner, said the current global crisis is “the litmus test for technology coming in and helping the world function”. Hub71 start-ups are in a place to benefit from the shifts that will take hold amid the pandemic response and ultimate recovery, he said.

The VC, one of the oldest and biggest in the region, keeps an office space at Hub71 following an investment from Mubadala Ventures, and Mr Khoury is typically there every Thursday.

He acknowledged that the price of oil, hovering at $25 a barrel at the time of writing, would be bad for liquidity but expects it will be “a passing blip”.

In order for Hub71 to reach its 100 start-ups target, it would benefit from more interaction not just with entrepreneurs but with investors, he said.

“I know Hub71 is working on this, we’re helping them,” Mr Khoury said. The main aim is to build up an annual calendar of events and speakers so that Abu Dhabi becomes, like Dubai, a fixture on the speaker circuit. Last year, for example, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba hosted an event with MEVP in Abu Dhabi.

Noor Sweid, a general partner at VC fund Global Ventures, another Hub71 VC partner that took investment from Mubadala Ventures, echoed Mr Khoury's optimism about attracting more start-ups in its second year. "It's doable," she told The National. "It's a safe place with a strong framework and a vision that people are out to meet. I'm hoping that they'll get there and I'm privileged to be able to support that."

Founders of regional scale-ups attended an Endeavor UAE retreat at Hub71, where they received advice from technology and business experts. Photo: Courtesy Hub71
Founders of regional scale-ups attended an Endeavor UAE retreat at Hub71, where they received advice from technology and business experts. Photo: Courtesy Hub71

She said the collaboration with California accelerator Plug and Play is doing a good job of outsourcing a pipeline of potential start-ups, and that ADGM, the financial free zone on Al Maryah where Hub71 is headquartered, is attracting companies that need to be regulated and creating a place for founders “that isn’t too cumbersome” from an affordability or compliance standpoint.

If anything, in the year ahead expect Hub71 to emulate its tenants a lot more - to behave more like a start-up than a government initiative.

The trick is to grow alongside the start-ups, Mr Ajami, the Hub71 chief said. To do that, and to bring in dozens more ventures, the plan is to start doing greater outreach in the UK, Germany, France and US.

To support the start-ups and to attract global funds and accelerators, a Dh535m Ventures Fund was earmarked by Adio in May of last year. So far the fund has invested more than Dh60m in a half dozen entities – all of which are either based in Abu Dhabi or are expanding into the capital. Expect, too, for the relationship between Hub71 and Adio to be tighter and for those investments to be made faster, Mr Ajami said.

Providing housing, health insurance and office support is “good for the first phase”, Mr Ajami said. “But I think we need to start being more creative in what we’re offering them.”

Hub71 is starting to mull different packages for different kinds of talent and to continue to incentivise companies as they grow in order to retain them in Abu Dhabi.

“We will be a lot more nimble in helping founders as we start scaling this,” Mr Ajami said.

At the Hub71 opening a year ago, Waleed Al Muhairi, deputy group chief executive at Mubadala, offered this advice: “Adapt, or face the consequences.”

It would appear that everyone at Hub71 was listening.

MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Raha%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Kuwait%2FSaudi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Tech%20Logistics%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2414%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Soor%20Capital%2C%20eWTP%20Arabia%20Capital%2C%20Aujan%20Enterprises%2C%20Nox%20Management%2C%20Cedar%20Mundi%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20166%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE v Gibraltar

What: International friendly

When: 7pm kick off

Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City

Admission: Free

Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page

UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)

Premier League results

Saturday

Crystal Palace 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 2

Cardiff City 2 West Ham United 0

Huddersfield Town 0 Bournemouth 2

Leicester City 3 Fulham 1

Newcastle United 3 Everton 2

Southampton 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1

Manchester City 3 Watford 1

Sunday

Liverpool 4 Burnley 2

Chelsea 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1

Arsenal 2 Manchester United 0

 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES

All times UAE ( 4 GMT)

Saturday
West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur (3.30pm)
Burnley v Huddersfield Town (7pm)
Everton v Bournemouth (7pm)
Manchester City v Crystal Palace (7pm)
Southampton v Manchester United (7pm)
Stoke City v Chelsea (7pm)
Swansea City v Watford (7pm)
Leicester City v Liverpool (8.30pm)

Sunday
Brighton and Hove Albion v Newcastle United (7pm)

Monday
Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion (11pm)

What's in the deal?

Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024

India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.

India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.

Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments

India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

While you're here
How being social media savvy can improve your well being

Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.

As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.

Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.

Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.

Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.

However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.

“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.

People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.

Company profile

Date started: 2015

Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki

Based: Dubai

Sector: Online grocery delivery

Staff: 200

Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends

FIXTURES

Thursday
Dibba v Al Dhafra, Fujairah Stadium (5pm)
Al Wahda v Hatta, Al Nahyan Stadium (8pm)

Friday
Al Nasr v Ajman, Zabeel Stadium (5pm)
Al Jazria v Al Wasl, Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium (8pm)

Saturday
Emirates v Al Ain, Emirates Club Stadium (5pm)
Sharjah v Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, Sharjah Stadium (8pm)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Tenet

Director: Christopher Nolan

Stars: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh 

Rating: 5/5

The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

About Karol Nawrocki

• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.

• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.

• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.

• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.

THE BIO

Bio Box

Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul

Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader

Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Favorite food: seafood

Favorite place to travel: Lebanon

Favorite movie: Braveheart

THE SPECS

Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine 

Power: 420kW

Torque: 780Nm

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Price: From Dh1,350,000

On sale: Available for preorder now

What are the influencer academy modules?
  1. Mastery of audio-visual content creation. 
  2. Cinematography, shots and movement.
  3. All aspects of post-production.
  4. Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
  5. Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
  6. Tourism industry knowledge.
  7. Professional ethics.