Published on
September 20, 2025
Dubai’s Expand North Star 2025 is set to be a transformative event, marking its 10th anniversary with five groundbreaking new features. This year’s edition, scheduled from October 12–15 at Dubai Harbour, promises to redefine the startup landscape by offering unparalleled opportunities for entrepreneurs, investors, and technology leaders to connect and collaborate. The addition of initiatives like ScaleX, the Consumer Tech Zone, and the North Star Green Impact zone highlights Dubai’s ambition to position itself as a global hub for innovation, while also attracting tourists and business professionals from around the world. The event’s bold new features aim to accelerate growth, foster sustainability, and drive advancements in deep-tech, making it a must-attend gathering for anyone looking to shape the future of the global digital economy.
Dubai’s flagship startup event, Expand North Star, is set to elevate the region’s startup ecosystem in 2025 with five exciting new features that aim to bring even more opportunities to entrepreneurs, investors, and tech leaders. Organized by the Dubai World Trade Centre and hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, the 10th anniversary edition will take place from October 12–15, 2025, at Dubai Harbour. This milestone year promises to be the most ambitious edition of the event to date, underscoring Dubai’s growing importance as a global hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.
The introduction of five new features—ScaleX, Consumer Tech Zone, North Star Green Impact, Deeptech MEA Summit, and Digital Assets Forum—will expand the event’s already diverse ecosystem, creating new avenues for collaboration, growth, and investment. These additions align with the vision of showcasing the latest innovations, driving market access, and fostering global connections among startups and investors.
ScaleX: Fostering Global Expansion
ScaleX will be the centerpiece of the 2025 event, serving as an official growth program aimed at accelerating the international expansion of 100 of the world’s fastest-growing technology companies. Designed to facilitate market access, ScaleX combines virtual preparatory stages with high-impact exposure at the event, giving selected companies unparalleled opportunities to connect with key investors and partners. The program will focus on helping these scaleups break into both regional and global markets, with particular attention on expanding in the Middle East.
Consumer Tech Zone: A Showcase of Emerging Products
A key addition to Expand North Star 2025 is the Consumer Tech Zone, dedicated to presenting the latest innovations in product-driven startups. This space will feature technologies from industries like augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), smart health devices, lifestyle technologies, and connected consumer products. Startups from various accelerators, government initiatives, and research hubs will have the chance to showcase their products, offering visitors a sneak peek at the emerging technologies set to transform consumer experiences in the years to come.
North Star Green Impact: Leading the Charge in Climate Innovation
Sustainability is a growing priority across industries worldwide, and Expand North Star 2025 is placing significant focus on green technology. The newly introduced North Star Green Impact zone will spotlight startups dedicated to clean energy solutions, sustainable mobility, water technologies, and circular economy models. This comes at a time when the region’s climate-tech sector is experiencing accelerated growth, with venture capital funding rising by 40% annually in 2023. The Green Impact zone will act as a hub for green-tech innovators, providing access to impact investors, government entities, and stakeholders focused on climate solutions.
Deeptech MEA Summit: Advancing High-Tech Innovation
Another major feature of the event is the Deeptech MEA Summit, a gathering designed to propel the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region into the forefront of advanced technological innovation. This summit will bring together researchers, entrepreneurs, and technology leaders to explore transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, quantum computing, and more. The summit will also aim to remove barriers to the growth of deep-tech industries in the region, creating valuable opportunities for collaboration and resources to support the development and commercialization of cutting-edge innovations.
Digital Assets Forum: Transforming Financial Systems
As digital currencies, blockchain, and tokenization continue to reshape global finance, the Digital Assets Forum will serve as a platform for discussing the future of financial systems. Experts in blockchain technology, AI, and digital finance will come together to explore the implications of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), tokenized assets, and new forms of financial infrastructure. The forum will facilitate discussions about the opportunities and challenges presented by these innovations, helping businesses and investors stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly digital financial world.
Signature Programs and Returning Features
Alongside the exciting new additions, Expand North Star 2025 will feature a host of signature programs that have become synonymous with the event’s success. The Supernova Challenge 2.0, known as the world’s largest startup pitch competition, will return with a grand prize pool of US$200,000. The Corporate Arena, a feature introduced in 2024, will continue to connect startup founders with enterprise leaders and investors, fostering relationships that drive business growth.
The Tech Transfer Innovation Forum, another staple of Expand North Star, will once again bring together academia, researchers, and entrepreneurs to drive research-based innovations. Additionally, the region’s leading MarTech conference, Marketing Mania, will allow marketing professionals and founders to explore how AI and creative storytelling are revolutionizing branding and customer engagement strategies.
Expand North Star 2025 will also retain a strong focus on nurturing young talent, with the return of the YouthX Unipreneur and Emaratipreneur platforms. These initiatives will support students and Emirati entrepreneurs, offering them valuable opportunities to enter and thrive in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The event will be complemented by North Star by Night, a series of evening networking events designed to extend collaboration and networking opportunities beyond the event’s daytime sessions.
Strengthening Dubai’s Role as a Digital Economy Leader
These new additions align with the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy’s overarching goal to solidify Dubai’s position as a global leader in technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Expand North Star is a key element of the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33), which seeks to position the city at the forefront of the digital economy, attract top talent and investment, and foster the growth of disruptive technologies. With its 10th-anniversary edition in 2025, the event is set to become an even more critical platform for shaping the future of the global startup landscape.
Expand North Star’s 2025 edition promises to offer a rich array of opportunities, connecting innovators, investors, and thought leaders from around the world. As the event continues to grow, it reaffirms Dubai’s role as a pivotal force in driving technological advancements, fostering entrepreneurial talent, and shaping the future of the global digital economy.
