Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy enhances funding, growth opportunities for 7 digital startups

Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, one of the three chambers operating under the umbrella of Dubai Chambers, recently organised a dedicated pitching session in collaboration with Oraseya Capital, the investment arm of Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ), aimed at enhancing funding opportunities for technology startups.

The session brought together the founders of seven startups operating across diverse areas of the digital economy with the Oraseya Capital investment team and its SANDBOX Investment Program.

The founders presented their business models, solutions, and plans for growth and expansion with the aim of securing investment funding.

The participating startups also received immediate feedback on the requirements for subsequent stages of the evaluation and potential investment process.

Following the session, a number of the companies progressed to the next stage of Oraseya Capital’s evaluation process, with the potential to benefit from the SANDBOX Investment Program to accelerate their growth.

Saeed Al Gergawi, Vice President of Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, said, “We are focused on providing practical and effective pathways that enable technology startups to connect directly with potential investors and access capital and expertise that can support their growth and expansion. We are committed to supporting the growth of Dubai’s digital economy ecosystem and strengthening its position as a global hub for innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment across all areas of the digital economy.”

For his part, Julien Plouzeau Senior Partner at Oraseya Capital, said, "We believe startup funding delivers greater impact when combined with expertise, guidance, and access to an investment ecosystem that supports business growth. Our collaboration with Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy reflects our commitment to identifying promising technology companies and enabling them to develop their business models, accelerate their growth, and expand from Dubai, contributing to the competitiveness of the emirate’s entrepreneurship and digital economy ecosystem."

The participating companies included Arakan, a UAE-based technology platform providing digital solutions that support businesses with compliance, corporate requirements, and related operational processes; Duno, an independent operational intelligence platform built to help lenders evaluate and understand Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs); and YOUNEA, an AI platform enabling businesses to deploy branded AI agents across channels including voice, chat, and WhatsApp.

They also included Riayatech, a UAE HealthTech company developing digital solutions designed to improve healthcare operations and the patient journey; Avelin, a sovereign AI platform providing frontier-class AI through cloud, on-premises, and air-gapped deployment; SENSI, a fragrance-technology startup developing digital scent and sensory technology solutions under its concept of the “Internet of Fragrances”; and Cogniver, an AI-native enterprise platform using autonomous AI agents to support and automate organisational workflows and business processes.

Oraseya Capital manages a Dhs500 million investment fund focused on technology startups, from the pre-seed stage through to Series B.

Through its SANDBOX Investment Program, the company provides founders with potential investment opportunities ranging from Dhs550,000 to approximately Dhs11 million, alongside mentorship and guidance, investment-readiness support, and access to a wider startup ecosystem.

The pitching session forms part of Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy’s efforts to strengthen connections between technology startups and investors, helping facilitate access to potential funding opportunities and supporting their ability to scale and grow.

It also aligns with the chamber’s strategic priorities to attract international businesses and investment to Dubai and strengthen the growth of the emirate’s digital economy ecosystem.

WAM