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There was a time when the world of tech events was dominated by giants. Those who have been hanging around the sector for a while will remember the Comdex, which was held in two main editions in Las Vegas in the autumn and in Atlanta in the spring, then there was the Cebit in Hanover, they were unmissable events, it was where the technological innovations were announced that then led to the development of the world of information technology as we know it today, it was the golden age of the sector, the era that found its high point at the turn of the millennium, remember the ‘millennium bug’?only to be completely transformed by the arrival of the start-up phenomenon.
Then Comdex disappeared, partly replaced by the current CES also in Las Vegas, Cebit lost its traction and the era of the tech startup events we reported on here but now the time for the big comeback of global events that make stratospheric numbers seems to be back with the evolution of the Gitex Global in Dubai has grown exponentially over the years to become not only the platform that in the 2024 edition counted over 6500 exhibitors, 1800 start-ups, 1200 investors and over 200,000 participants from 180 countries spread over two locations: the Dubai World Trade Center and Dubai Harbour, the first as the main location spread over dozens of pavilions, the second as a location dedicated to start-ups and the North Start Expand event. “The decision to adopt the dual location was due to the fact that everyone inside the DWTC no longer fit in since last year,” Trixie LohMirmand, executive vice president of the Dubai World Trade Centre and CEO of Kaoun International, which is the company that organises and manages Gitex in all its various editions, which will multiply from next year, tells Startupbusiness. – However, we are aware that this choice needs to be reconsidered both because of logistical issues (the two locations are about 30 kilometres apart but the traffic in Dubai makes the transfer time never less than an hour, ed.) and, above all, because we believe that the contamination between start-ups and big tech companies from all over the world is fundamental. As of this year, we have already brought the so-called scaleups back to the DWTC, but we want to return to having them all under the same roof because we are convinced that the contamination between the different realities is fundamental and an added value of our platform, and that is why already next year we are planning to move the event to the area of Dubai that hosted Expo Dubai 2020 (which was then held in 2021 due to the restrictions linked to the pandemic) on which modernisation and expansion work is being carried out.
The CEO shows a strong interest and awareness of the importance of start-ups and adds that in the other stages that Gitex is organising around the world, starting with the European one that debuts in Berlin in May 2025, the North Star Expand area will also be integrated into the Gitex Europe exhibition area. Precisely the launch of Gitex Europe was one of the news items that attracted the most attention during the days of the Emirates event. The announcement was made with emphasis on Gitex’s decision to focus strongly and substantially on collaborations with local authorities: “We want to connect the world of technology industries, start-ups, venture capital, to become the ‘nexus’, the node, of innovation in Europe as well,” reiterates LohMirmand, who emphasises that 900 European tech companies will be present in Dubai at the 2024 edition of Gitex Global. Leading partner is the European Innovation Council (EIC) and department head Stéphane Ouaki emphasises how the presence at Gitex Europe, which takes place in Berlin from 21-23 May 2025, will be in force and involve all EU countries. Other partners include Berlin Partner, De-Hub, Tech Uk, Tech.Mt, and also international investors such as the US SOSV, whose founder and managing partner Sean O’Sullivan emphasises how Europe is a global leader in sustainability innovation and how his vehicle has set up a EUR 60 million fund for companies that innovate in Europe.
In addition to the Berlin edition that will take place at the Messe Berlin and also include the European editions of AI Everything and North Star, Gitex presented a global programme of events that will enliven next year’s calendar. It starts with the AI Everything edition from 4 to 6 February, which takes place between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, then Gitex Africa, which in its second edition returns to Marrakesh in Morocco from 14 to 15 April, then flies to Singapore for Gitex Asia from 23 to 25 April, and then Berlin, in September, from 1 to 4 there is Gitex Nigeria, from 10 to 12 September the edition dedicated to digital health Gitex Digi_Health 5.0 taking place in Thailand and, finally, the 2025 edition, the 45th Gitex Global in Dubai from 13 to 17 October.
Scaleup and artificial intelligence
Gitex Global 2024 also saw the launch of initiatives to support business development, in particular one called Gitex Editions and is dedicated to scaleups, or rather late-stage advanced tech companies that can join this sort of hub in order to count on the support of Gitex and the UAE government to develop their businesses and technologies internationally. The programme was presented by Omar Sultan Al Olama, who is the Emirati minister for AI, digital economy and remote working applications, his speech emphasised the Emirates’ desire to be a global partner on the artificial intelligence front: ‘we are working to equip ourselves with all the necessary platforms such as those for data processing capabilities, for providing the necessary energy to data centres that run AI, and on talent development. We believe a lot in the growth of LLM for specific applications, and from a regulatory point of view we are halfway between the regulatory approach of the European Union and the freedom of the US, or rather, perhaps we are a little more unbalanced towards the US model, although it should be remembered that, for example, the state of California is also developing its own AI Act, I think it is essential to develop specialised models that are also open source and that, except for certain issues such as those related to national security, should be able to operate freely. In the Emirates, we are very quick both to make the investments once the direction is decided and to implement the structural platforms, and to define any regulatory frameworks while maintaining an approach that I could describe as a regulatory sandbox for AI that is highly pragmatic and that is compatible with everyone’s needs. We also want to define a framework that is able to attract talent with AI skills from around the world and at the same time accelerate the process of training local talent, the goal is to have at least three million people who know how to do prompt engineering.
On the subject of artificial intelligence, among the many technologies exhibited in the dedicated pavilion, the Baby X project, an interactive simulation of a realistic virtual baby that learns and reacts like a human, thanks to an embedded virtual brain that bears a detailed resemblance to that of a human being, certainly caused a lot of talk. Baby X works with biological artificial intelligence and an operating system called Brain Language, stimulated neurochemical reactions help Baby X decide how to react. To explain the importance of Baby X, Mark Sagar, its creator and co-founder of New Zealand-based Soul Machines, emphasises the difference between human intelligence and artificial intelligence: ‘As humans, we learn from an early age by exploring the world and experimenting. Play is a key part of making intelligence open and inventive but it is something that today’s AI lacks. . Se vogliamo regolamentare l’intelligenza artificiale generale, dobbiamo costruire un’architettura cognitiva che produca un comportamento intelligente attraverso un approccio ad ampio spettro”.
Startup
North Star describes itself as the world’s biggest startup event and the numbers are quite significant as written above, but there is a lot going on within the event related to, or rather inspired by, Gitex. Meanwhile there is the competition called Supernova Challenge and which in this edition saw more than 650 startups from 69 countries apply, of which 39% seed/early stage, 24% series A, 18% pre-seed and 11% bootstrap, saw a programme of selection events unfold across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas, saw a pool of 155 semi-finalists from 50 countries, culminating in the 20 finalists who competed for prizes on the 10X stage at North Star 2024. Twenty start-ups from France, China, Bangladesh, Germany, Brazil, Latvia, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Ireland, the United Kingdom and India, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, none from Italy made it to the finals . A vincere il primo premio da 100mila dollari è stata la startup healthtech lettone Longenesis che propone trattamenti innovativi e un nuovo modo di coinvolgere i pazienti, Emil Syundyukov, co-fondatore e CEO di Longenesis: “Si tratta di sbloccare il valore nascosto dei dati coinvolgendo popolazioni più ampie, possiamo così aiutare le terapie a raggiungere più rapidamente chi ne ha bisogno. Questa vittoria è solo l’inizio per noi. Siamo qui per superare i confini geografici della ricerca sanitaria e scalare, soprattutto nella regione del Golfo, che vediamo come un punto focale per le innovazioni sanitarie”. Il secondo e il terzo premio del valore rispettivo di 60mila dollari e 35mila dollari sono andati a ProfilePrint di Singapore per la sua innovativa piattaforma di qualità degli ingredienti guidata dall’intelligenza artificiale utilizzando una tecnologia brevettata di identità digitale alimentare, ProfilePrint sintetizza dati molecolari complessi in impronte digitali, consentendo alle aziende agroalimentari di prendere decisioni basate sui dati per migliorare la qualità e l’efficienza dei prodotti. Terza la sudcoreana Nextpayments le cui soluzioni offrono esperienze di vendita al dettaglio personalizzate attraverso chioschi IA avanzati e tecnologia per negozi intelligenti.
Then there are the start-ups exhibiting and bringing, in pavilions organised by individual countries or groups of companies or even investors, their innovations to the attention of thousands of visitors. Obviously there is everything, every possible sector with AI, fintech and healthtech having the most numerous presences, and then the array of accelerators, incubators, institutions starting with the Dubai Chamber Digital which is a co-organiser of North Star and an advocate of thematic strands such as Gitex Impact on sustainability, Fintech Surge and Future Blockchain Summit, Marketing Mania dedicated to innovation in media. Dubai Chamber Digital also presented the 2024 edition of the Dubai Startup Guide This is a fundamental document for anyone intending to develop a company in the Emirate and presents very useful, step-by-step indications illustrating the various possibilities, with an in-depth analysis of individual sectors such as 3D printing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, edtech, fintech, gaming, healthtech, web3, and saas software. The document is presented by the aforementioned Minister Omar Sultan Al Olama, who emphasises the importance of start-ups for government strategies. Zain Anwer Pirani who is manager digital economy ecosystem of Dubai Chamber Digital stated during a meeting with a delegation of South Korean companies organised by Agcc, the global innovation partner founded and managed by Chiara de Caro and Han Gust, how his organisation’s activities are strongly focused on innovation and how there is a network of ambassadors around the world working to promote the opportunities that the Emirate offers to innovative entrepreneurs.
Italy
The Italian Trade Agency led in the United Arab Emirates and Oman by Valerio Soldani set up a stand at Expand North Star hosting a number of start-ups including, for example, Travel Verse, which offers services and solutions for the tourism sector based on artificial intelligence: ‘More and more, specific AI-based applications are becoming essential,’ says Antonio Amendola, product manager of the start-up, ‘and we are working precisely to demonstrate how AI can really make a significant contribution in an increasingly competitive sector worldwide.or as is also the case with MyMoney that realises biometric-based payment solutions whose founder and CEO Mara Vendramin describes as suitable for contexts ranging from defined environments such as hotels and resorts to more transversal ones where both BtoC and BtoB sales are generated. Presso lo stand di ITA Startupbusiness ha incontrato anche una startup sui generis: Radio Italia Dubai, stazione radio nata da poche settimane che trasmette sulla frequenza 95.3 e che si propone come la voce del made in Italy nella zona, a raccontare il progetto è il business development manager Luigi Negro che sottilinea come l’idea sia quella di dare voce alla comunità italiana di Dubai, circa 40mila persone, e diventare piattaforma per ciò che l’Italia ha da offrire, tecnologia e innovazione compresi. Radio Italia Dubai così come molte realtà italiane che sono insediate a Dubai lavorano in stretta collaborazione con Italiacamp Dubai Hub for made in Italy, realtà pubblico privata che vede la partecipazione di istituzioni governative come Simest, di università come Luiss e di aziende che hanno scelto questa piattaforma per lo sviluppo del loro business nell’area, a guidare il tutto è Leo Cisotta che sottolinea come l’hub stia crescendo sia in termini di capacità di attrarre sempre nuovi clienti, quindi aziende italiane che richiedono supporto, sia in termini di reputazione nella sua capacità di interagire con partner e istituzioni locali. La piattaforma, che ha sede all’interno del Dubai World Trade Center, quindi nel medesimo luogo dove si svolge il Gitex, punta sul made in Italy innovativo, su aziende tecnologiche e che offrono una nuova visione del made in Italy dando così forza a un sempre più necessario posizionamento del Paese in mercati che stanno mostrando forza propulsiva. Un lavoro che vede impegnato anche il già citato Valerio Soldani il quale partecipando a un evento il cui scopo, e titolo, era quello di mettere in luce la capacità di fare collaborazione tra i diversi Paesi europei, un evento che oltre al rappresentante italiano ha visto la partecipazione di esponenti di organizzazioni dal Portogallo, Francia, Germania, Polonia da cui è emerso come l’Europa sia molto più intenzionata a collaborare al suo interno che non il contrario e che quella che potremmo definire come anche la concorrenza sana tra i vari Paesi dell’Unione può essere un valore per chi fa impresa e per chi la finanzia e questo è un messaggio molto importante da condividere su un palco come quello di Dubai anche in vista dell’edizione di Berlino.
The Italian presence is concentrated in Expand North Star, unlike other countries Italy has chosen not to have institutional stands in various pavilions between North Star and Gitex and Italian companies were not even present in the European Union stand at Gitex where instead there were startups and scaleups from France, Spain, Ireland, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia but it is only a matter of time because it is just today the announcement by the EIC Scaling Club programme of the entry of three Italian scaleups in the community of companies in which Europe intends to invest to create its unicorns (here the news). This, however, has not stopped Italian start-ups from showing off in every possible context, as is the case for example of KaraokeOne has come to the fore as a partner in the North Star by Night initiative, an evening event linked to the event: “we are the only Italians as an activation partner of North Star and we are so together with Rolling Stone Italia – explains Antonio Vecchio, CEO of the startup – we are an element of the global event that brings innovation together and we take this experience around the world to all the other Gitex stages, this project was also born as a result of our experience in the Immediate Accelerator of RS Productions managed by Mattia Lecchi (who is also one of the members, the only Italian, of the jury that selected the winners of the Supernova Challenge competition mentioned above, ed)’.
Flying machines
There are so many innovations: the AI that helps with simultaneous translations, the autonomous robots, anthropomorphic and otherwise, that are around every pavilion of the fair mingling with the often intense crowd to bring information or promote some company, the countries represented are many, both with their institutional stands and with companies scattered among the numerous pavilions, The sectors represented are all there, from aerospace to cybersecurity, from artificial intelligence to additive manufacturing, from video games to the world of developers, from telecommunications to mobility, and it is precisely with mobility in mind that there is one thing that always arouses that fascination that lies somewhere between science fiction and the hope for a better world: flying cars. Of course, in a Dubai where the traffic on its wide streets is becoming increasingly intense, the idea of the flying car, of the air taxi, is rapidly becoming a concept of comfort, but it still takes a while for this type of service to be realised, those that focus on design and those that instead look more at the practical aspects, but one attracted attention, presented in a normal stand without special effects by an Austrian company from Linz, almost subdued compared to the set-up of others, especially Asian ones, with lots of cinema-style presentations such as the Chinese Xpeng did with its AeroHt. Well, the Austrian company called CycloTech has presented a prototype based on an entirely new system, no propellers like traditional drones, but rotors, called cyclorotors, which look like the wheels of a normal car and which guarantee greater performance, greater safety, and greater manoeuvrability, as explained by chief development officer Markus Steinke, who also emphasises that the development of the vehicle is already well advanced and that practical tests have already amply demonstrated the effectiveness of cyclorotors.
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