Hub71 and CEPA Council Partner to Boost Indian Startup Entry into Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi is sharpening its appeal as a launchpad for Indian founders. Hub71, the emirate’s global tech ecosystem, has signed a strategic partnership with the UAE–India CEPA Council (UICC) to give high-potential Indian startups a structured, end-to-end pathway to enter and scale across the MENA region from the UAE capital.

Announced on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Investment Forum (ADIF) in Mumbai, the collaboration is designed to operationalise the innovation agenda at the heart of the UAE–India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). In practical terms, it means that Indian founders will gain a guided “soft-landing” into Abu Dhabi’s innovation ecosystem — from market validation and regulatory support to investor access and long-term regional scale-up.

A Structured Gateway for Indian Scale-Ups

Under the partnership, Hub71 will support the UICC’s flagship Start-Up Series, which has already attracted more than 10,000 applications from India. The volume of interest reflects both the depth of India’s startup pipeline and rising founder appetite to use Abu Dhabi as a base for global expansion into the Gulf and wider MENA markets.

Many of these applicants align strongly with Hub71’s priority sectors, including FinTech, HealthTech, AgriTech and mobility. This sector overlap gives the partnership immediate traction: it connects India’s strengths in digital innovation with Abu Dhabi’s increasingly curated, sector-focused tech agenda.

As part of the agreement, five winning startups from the Start-Up Series will be onboarded into the Hub71 Immersion Programme — a hybrid initiative that blends virtual onboarding with in-person sessions in Abu Dhabi. The goal is to quickly lift founders to “market-ready” status by compressing discovery, learning and ecosystem integration into a concentrated runway.

From Immersion to Access: A Pathway to Regional Scale

For the most promising startup among the five winners, the journey goes a step further. One company will be selected for the Hub71 Access Programme, which offers structured entry into the broader ecosystem and is designed for founders who are ready to move from testing to scaling.

The Access Programme provides a more intensive tier of support, including curated introductions to corporates and investors, tailored go-to-market guidance, and practical help in building a sustainable presence in Abu Dhabi. In effect, it shortens the distance between pilot projects and long-term regional operations.

This tiered approach – from Start-Up Series selection to Immersion and then Access – creates a visible, de-risked pathway for Indian startups that might otherwise face fragmented entry points, regulatory uncertainty or limited local networks.

Aligning Policy with Ecosystem: Making CEPA “Live” for Founders

The collaboration between Hub71 and the CEPA Council goes beyond branding. It effectively aligns the policy ambition of CEPA with a concrete, founder-centric platform on the ground.

The framework enables the cross-referral of high-impact startups between UICC and Hub71, providing:

• Soft-landing support in both Abu Dhabi and India
• Regulatory facilitation and guidance on local compliance
• Company setup and operational onboarding
• Market access and customer discovery in priority sectors
• Introductions to investors and strategic partners

By tying these services to a clear policy framework, the partnership gives founders greater clarity and predictability. Rather than navigating two ecosystems separately, Indian startups can now engage a single corridor that is being actively stewarded by both sides.

Building a UAE–India Innovation Corridor

Diplomatically, the agreement reinforces the positioning of innovation as a core pillar of the UAE–India relationship. H.E. Abdulnasser Alshaali, Ambassador of the UAE to the Republic of India, emphasised that innovation lies at the heart of the bilateral partnership and that both countries share an ambition to build a dynamic, interconnected startup corridor driving investment and sustainable growth.

On the ecosystem side, Ahmad Ali Alwan, CEO of Hub71, described the partnership as one that “shortens the distance” between market readiness and regional scale. His comments underline the idea that strong ecosystems don’t just provide office space or capital – they orchestrate relationships, reduce friction and help founders focus on building products and winning customers.

For India, the partnership adds another concrete route for founders looking beyond traditional expansion markets like North America or Europe. Abu Dhabi’s geographic and economic position makes it a natural hub to serve the GCC and wider MENA region, particularly in financial services, health, logistics and climate-adjacent technologies.

What It Means for Indian Founders and Investors

For Indian founders, especially in later seed and growth stages, the Hub71–CEPA Council tie-up offers three key advantages:

• Visibility and curation: Being selected through the Start-Up Series and Hub71 programmes signals quality to investors and enterprise partners on both sides of the corridor.
• Faster learning cycles: Structured immersion reduces the time and cost of testing new markets, making it easier to refine business models and product-market fit for MENA.
• Institutional backing: The involvement of CEPA-linked bodies and a government-backed ecosystem like Hub71 can help derisk perceived political or regulatory uncertainties.

Investors, meanwhile, gain a clearer view of cross-border pipelines and the chance to back companies that are already being filtered through a joint India–Abu Dhabi lens. For family offices, venture funds and strategic corporates in the region, the partnership effectively acts as a discovery engine for Indian innovation.

Abu Dhabi’s Growing Role in Global Startup Flows

The Hub71–CEPA Council partnership also fits into a larger pattern: Abu Dhabi’s push to establish itself as a global hub for tech, finance and digital infrastructure. By tying its ecosystem more tightly to India’s startup depth, the emirate is not only attracting new companies but also positioning itself as a node that connects capital, regulation and talent across regions.

For the UAE, this kind of corridor-based model aligns with broader economic diversification and innovation goals. For India, it complements ongoing efforts to give domestic founders more global pathways without losing their base in key innovation clusters such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi–NCR and Hyderabad.

Shunyatax Global Editorial Note

At Shunyatax Global, we track how policy frameworks like CEPA translate into real-world opportunities for founders, investors and ecosystems. Partnerships such as Hub71’s collaboration with the UAE–India CEPA Council are critical case studies in how trade agreements can move beyond tariffs and into innovation, capital flows and startup mobility.

For more in-depth coverage on cross-border startup corridors, fintech ecosystems and regulatory developments across India, the Gulf and beyond, visit Shunyatax Global Services. Explore our analysis, stay ahead of policy shifts, and tap into insights that matter for global builders and decision-makers.

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