First 85 startups to move into District 2020

With only a few days left before the Dubai World Expo 2020 draws to a close, thousands of startups from around the world have already applied to locate to District 2020, with 85 due to move in by the end of the year.

Once the World Expo concludes, close to 80% of Expo-built structures on the 4.38 square kilometre site will be re-purposed to create District 2020, a mixed-use, flexible environment that aims to become a hub for global tech innovation, with the first business tenants set to take up their places from the fourth quarter of 2022.

District 2020’s global entrepreneurship programme Scale2Dubai will welcome its first cohort of 85 startups and SMEs before the end of this year, joining the diverse organisations living and working in the post-Expo 2020 Dubai community. This marks a significant milestone in the realisation of the future plans for the Expo 2020 site, which will grow into an innovative ecosystem and community that includes government, Fortune 500 firms, academic institutions, accelerators, incubators, labs, VCs, SMEs, and startups. A total of 3,200 startups from 129 countries have already applied to locate to District 2020.

The new innovation district seeks to play a role in enabling regional and global startups to scale up within Dubai, providing an ideal launchpad and gateway to access the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. By enabling startups and small businesses through its Scale2Dubai programme, District 2020 builds on Expo 2020’s efforts to fund and empower innovative companies with the potential to create long-term positive economic and social impacts.

The director for the Innovation Ecosystem and Scale2Dubai, Tala Al Ansari, said:

“This is an exciting milestone that reiterates District 2020’s commitment to continuing Expo 2020’s legacy of supporting entrepreneurs and contributing to Dubai’s status as an innovation-driven global startup capital. Only 50 percent of startups make it to their fifth year, so we are proud to have designed a programme that supports them on this journey and eagerly look forward to welcoming Cohort 1 to District 2020 during Q4 of this year. We plan to host a new cohort every year at District 2020 and look forward to our second cohort moving in by April 2023.”

The first cohort of 85 promising businesses from 27 countries were selected from 628 shortlisted applications, each of which went through a rigorous evaluation by three judges. Anchor tenants DP World, Siemens, Siemens Energy and Terminus Technologies will also play a key role in developing the district, by collaborating with new growing companies for true co-creation that will drive the smarter, more sustainable future that District 2020 is working to create.

Find out more about the project at https://www.district2020.ae/ .