Contributors will obtain strengthen with marketplace validation, product technique, industrial readiness and industry expansion, whilst having access to mentors, traders, company companions and startup products and services via Dubai Founders HQ.
Toughen starts on the concept level
The programme is designed for Emiratis at the start in their entrepreneurial adventure, together with candidates who’ve no longer prior to now secured investment or established an organization.
Founders will probably be guided from the improvement of an preliminary concept via to marketplace validation and product readiness, with the purpose of serving to them construct scalable era ventures.
Toughen will proceed after the programme ends via Dubai Founders HQ, giving contributors get right of entry to to additional programmes, occasions, traders, company companions and the broader founder group.
“Embedding Hi2 within Dubai Founders HQ is about creating a structured, end-to-end pathway for Emirati talent to move from first idea to investable business,” said Ahmad Al Room Almheiri, CEO of Dubai SME. “In a global environment of rapid economic transformation, Dubai’s response has been to invest strategically in its founders, building the infrastructure and programmes that ensure our Emirati entrepreneurs are not only equipped to compete globally, but positioned to lead.”
He added, “Through the new incubator programme, we are opening that doorway to founders at the very earliest stage of their journey, welcoming all regardless of prior funding or company formation. This is how we build a stronger, more diverse pipeline of national startups, advancing the goals of the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33.”
Hi2 joins Dubai Founders HQ
The programme follows the mixing of Hamdan Innovation Incubator, referred to as Hi2, into Dubai Founders HQ.
Hi2 was once established in 2014 underneath the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy High Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Govt Council of Dubai.
The incubator has supported Emirati marketers for greater than a decade and can now function as a devoted platform for nationwide founders inside the wider Dubai Founders HQ ecosystem.
The transfer provides Hi2 contributors direct get right of entry to to startup programmes, mentors, traders, corporates and products and services via a unmarried platform.
Dubai Founders HQ was once established in 2025 as a joint initiative between the Dubai Division of Financial system and Tourism and the Dubai Chamber of Virtual Financial system.
The platform connects founders with traders, corporations and startup ecosystem companions and paperwork a part of the Dubai Financial Time table, D33, which goals to double the dimensions of Dubai’s financial system by means of 2033.
Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Trade Editor at Gulf Information, the place she spends her days unpacking cash, markets, aviation, and the massive shifts shaping lifestyles within the Gulf. Ahead of returning to Gulf Information, she introduced Finance Center East, whole with a podcast and video sequence.
Her reporting has taken her from breaking spot information to long-form options and high-profile interviews. Nivetha has interviewed Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu, IMF’s Jihad Azour, and an extended listing of CEOs, regulators, and founders who’re reshaping the area’s financial system.
An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha has shared study rooms and newsrooms with reporters from greater than 40 nations, which most certainly explains her weak spot for knowledge, context, and a excellent follow-up query.
When she is clear of her keyboard (AFK), you’re perhaps to seek out her on the fitness center with an Eminem playlist, bingeing One Piece, or exploring video games on her PS5.
