Investing in innovation

Scroll through the information above to find out how Ghadan 21 succeeded in making Abu Dhabi an even better place to live, work and thrive.

Overseen by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), the Innovation Programme is a AED2 billion fund to drive research and development and advance innovation across high-growth sectors including agritech, financial services, information and communications technology, health services and biopharma, and tourism.

Under the Innovation Programme, ADIO has formed partnerships with companies including Peninsula Real Estate, enterprise software firm Eureka Florin Court Capital, Tribe Infrastructure Group, Bespin Global, Callsign, Lyve and RIZEK. ADIO also partnered with the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA) to further the development of next-generation technology in Abu Dhabi's education sector.  

ADIO's Innovation Programme has also partnered with STARZPLAY Arabia, as well as Nasdaq-listed music streaming platform Anghami, enabling both companies to establish their headquarters in Abu Dhabi.

Initially launched by the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK), and now managed by ASPIRE, the technology programme management pillar of the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), the ASPIRE research programmes were created to support targeted research within Abu Dhabi and to grow a holistic, world-class research and development (R&D) ecosystem.

The ASPIRE awards consist of four competitive funding programmes for outstanding research proposals: the ASPIRE Award for Research Excellence (AARE), the ASPIRE Young Investigator Award (AYIA), the Virtual Research Institutes (VRIs) Programme and the Visiting International Professorship (ViPs) Programme. So far, a total of AED297 million has been awarded to 114 research projects.

Abu Dhabi has also invested in finding solutions to global challenges. In December 2020, ATRC’s dedicated technology programme management pillar ASPIRE partnered with non-profit organisation XPRIZE Foundation to launch the four-year Feed the Next Billion competition. With the support of the Tony Robbins Foundation, the initiative is tackling food security globally by crowdsourcing and developing innovative alternatives to chicken and fish.

Global tech ecosystem Hub71 launched in March 2019 to facilitate the growth of innovation-focused start-ups in Abu Dhabi. Hub71 has incubated 105 start-ups and raised more than AED1.4 billion to date, working in areas such as artificial intelligence, spacetech, fintech, edtech and cyber security.

It has also hosted multiple events, helping to connect start-ups and entrepreneurs with more than AED1.7 billion in accessible capital for developing, scaling and building transformational businesses.

42 Abu Dhabi is an innovative, tuition-free coding school that uses peer-to-peer, gamified learning methods to cultivate creativity, collaboration and self-discipline by giving students ownership of their learning without classrooms or teachers.

The school has been given initial accreditation by the National Qualification Centre, is open 24/7, and operates out of a purpose-built warehouse campus in Mina Zayed.

Find out more about 42 Abu Dhabi