Abu Dhabi's startup scene is characterized by large investments in energy and financial technology. The region is home to both established giants and newer companies that have secured significant capital.
For example, renewable energy company Masdar has raised $3.3B in funding. In the financial sector, recent startups like Alpheya and CredibleX have attracted $300M and $155M respectively.
Below is our list of 18 Abu Dhabi startups worth keeping an eye on.
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Get the Sheet for $50Masdar develops and operates a global portfolio of clean energy projects, from solar and wind farms to green hydrogen initiatives. They are recognized as one of the world's largest renewable energy players, driving the commercialization of sustainable technologies.
| Year Founded | 2006 |
| Founders | H.E. Sultan Al Jaber |
| Funding Amount | $3.3B |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Debt Financing |
| Top Investors | European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank |
CredibleX builds an embedded finance platform that provides working capital finance solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises. Their technology enables other businesses to integrate these financing options directly into their own services for their customers.
| Year Founded | 2023 |
| Founders | Ahmad Malik, Anand Nagaraj, Hassan Reda |
| Funding Amount | $155M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Debt Financing |
| Top Investors | Pollen Street Capital, Further Ventures, Kilgour Williams Capital, Berkley Square Finance |
Fuze builds digital asset infrastructure that enables businesses to embed crypto payment and treasury solutions. Their platform provides a suite of tools for enterprises looking to build and scale financial products using web3 technology.
| Year Founded | 2022 |
| Founders | Arpit Mehta, Mo Ali Yusuf, Srijan R Shetty |
| Funding Amount | $26.2M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Series A |
| Top Investors | Blockchain Founders Fund, Galaxy Digital, e&, Further Ventures, Liberty City Ventures |
Blackstone builds comprehensive brand strategies for clients, offering services from creative design to event production and social media management. The agency specializes in creating distinct brand identities and executing engaging campaigns across multiple channels.
| Year Founded | 2017 |
| Founders | Abdelrahman Amoorah |
| Funding Amount | — |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | — |
| Top Investors | — |
Rihal provides IT consulting with a focus on data-centric solutions like data integration, information management, and robotic process automation. They help organizations streamline their operations by cleaning, merging, and managing complex datasets with AI and automation tools.
| Year Founded | 2019 |
| Founders | — |
| Funding Amount | $7.5M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series A |
| Top Investors | ITHCA group |
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company manages a vast, integrated energy business that covers the entire oil and gas value chain. Alongside its core production, the company is making significant investments in lower-carbon solutions to help drive a more sustainable energy future.
| Year Founded | 1971 |
| Founders | — |
| Funding Amount | $5.5B |
| Startup Size | Enterprise Organization (5,001+) |
| Last Funding Status | Debt Financing |
| Top Investors | BlackRock, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Lunate |
Octa has developed an AI-powered receivables platform to automate B2B collections. The software handles everything from invoicing and payments to providing a clear overview of cash flow.
| Year Founded | 2024 |
| Founders | Jon Edward Santillan, Nupur Mittal |
| Funding Amount | $22.3M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Debt Financing |
| Top Investors | 500 Global, Quona Capital, Sanabil, Plus Venture Capital, Sukna Ventures |
LowKick Studio develops video games for PC and mobile platforms. The team focuses on creating original titles for a wide range of players.
| Year Founded | 2021 |
| Founders | — |
| Funding Amount | $2.6M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Pre-Seed |
| Top Investors | — |
Alpheya delivers a cloud-native, AI-powered wealth management platform for private banks and investment houses. Their technology provides a comprehensive suite of tools for portfolio management, client onboarding, and risk analytics.
| Year Founded | 2023 |
| Founders | — |
| Funding Amount | $300M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Venture Round |
| Top Investors | BNY, Lunate |
BurjX runs a regulated platform for trading and storing digital assets. The service acts as a secure custodian, giving users a compliant way to manage their cryptocurrency and NFT portfolios.
| Year Founded | 2024 |
| Founders | Adam Ferris, Adam Ferris, Omar Abbas |
| Funding Amount | $3.2M |
| Startup Size | Founding Team (1-10) |
| Last Funding Status | Seed |
| Top Investors | — |
8 Additional Abu Dhabi Startups Worth Following
The top 10 are just a small part of what's happening in the city. Across industries like AI and energy, founders have raised well over a billion dollars to get their ideas off the ground.
Some are early in their journey, while others are scaling fast. Here’s a look at the rest of the startups shaping Abu Dhabi's startup ecosystem.