When the Dubai Economic Agenda ‘D33’, was announced, one particular ambition caught the eye of Sonia Gokhale, co-founder of Dubai-based VC fund VentureSouq.

‘D33’ aims to double the emirate’s GDP by 2033, in part by supporting 400 scaleups and nurturing 30 businesses into becoming unicorns – businesses valued over $1 billion.

It’s the latter Gokhale is enthused about. “A program to grow unicorns is a dream come true for investors,” she says.

And there’s every indication Dubai will succeed.

Start local, go global

Dubai has form as a launchpad for billion-dollar companies. Gokhale points to rideshare app Careem’s growth across MENA as a prime example.

“It’s easier to build a company locally than to have a multinational come in here,” she says. “With [Careem], they built with it the idiosyncrasies of each of these markets, and then got the attention of Uber to acquire them.”

Careem catered to regional demands in a way Uber couldn’t. Ultimately, Uber gave in, buying the company for a record $3.1 billion in 2019 – making it the Middle East’s first unicorn.

“This is an attractive place to live and grow and build companies.”

— Sonia Gokhale, co-founder of VentureSouq

The story demonstrates how Dubai offers a base for startups to scaleup regionally, before ultimately going global – in part by offering streamlined access to investors.

“We’re an economy that’s pegged to the US dollar, so you can get emerging market type returns without the risk,” says Gokhale.

Government-backed

Risk mitigation is especially significant amidst current global volatility. And it’s something Dubai’s government is working hard on. “The amazing part of Dubai is… there’s a lot of economic stability, through a lot of government initiatives,” says Gokhale.

And support extends beyond direct investment. “What sets us apart from other tech hubs is really the combination of government support, regulatory easing… and the fact that this is an attractive place to live and grow and build companies,” Gokhale continues.

It’s a potent combination that is steadily drawing attention from global investors.

“We’ve had a lot of interest from global VC funds coming into the region,” says Gokhale, citing big-hitter fund Peak XV (Sequoia India) as an example, which invested in fellow Dubai unicorns tabby and Kitopi.

The unicorn incubator

It all adds up to fertile ground for growing 30 unicorns by 2033. “We believe this ecosystem has lots of opportunity for growth,” says Gokhale.

“And to have initiatives with the government where they’re helping to prop companies up and build unicorns is music to investors’ ears.”