Dubai Internet City companies increase by 10% as professionals top 30,000 in first half of 2024

Tech business district plans to add premium office spaces across more than 46,000 square metres at expansion developments

Ammar Al Malik, executive vice president of commercial at Tecom Group and managing director of Dubai Internet City, at Gitex Global in Dubai. Photo: Dubai Internet City

The number of companies operating in Dubai Internet City increased by 10 per cent annually in the first half of 2024, boosting the number of professionals in the district that is home to market players providing services for emerging technologies, its managing director said.

There were more than 3,500 organisations, comprising Fortune 500 companies, tech majors and start-ups in the district in the six months through June, Ammar Al Malik told The National at the Gitex Global technology conference in Dubai on Monday. That has resulted in the number of professionals at Dubai Internet City topping 30,000, an increase of more than 5 per cent compared with the same period in 2023, said Mr Al Malik, also executive vice president of commercial leasing at Dubai Internet City's parent Tecom Group.

"There are large corporations setting up base in the country. We're seeing the number of companies and talent growing, and we are also seeing some movements as start-up funding starts to come back as well," he said.

Additionally, Dubai Internet City plans to add premium office spaces across more than 46,000 square metres at its expansion developments, as it seeks to support the growing number of businesses setting up operations in the emirate. The Grade A facilities are part of the second and third phases of Dubai Internet City's Innovation Hub, which aims to boost the emirate's business fundamentals and infrastructure.

Tecom in August completed the acquisition of new commercial and industrial assets, which was part of a Dh1.7 billion ($462.8 million) development plan announced in May, in conjunction with plans to develop premium office spaces worth Dh340 million at Dubai Internet City. That brought the total value Tecom's investments in 2024 to more than Dh2 billion, after earlier investments of Dh966 million to acquire commercial and industrial assets from Dubai Holding Asset Management and allotting Dh689 million for to develop Grade A offices at Dubai Design District.

As a result, Tecom's gross leasable area of high-quality commercial assets is now 929,000 square metres, with its land leasing portfolio rising to 16.6 million square metres. The new offices will cater to research and development labs, innovation centres and multinationals "to ensure the ecosystem continues to have the necessary infrastructure to help [companies] in their future expansion", Mr Al Malik said.

"This is a continuation of our efforts in order to attract the best talent and best companies to set up and to make the UAE their base going forward."

The number of start-ups at Dubai Internet City's incubator, in5, has passed 1,000 and have so far raised Dh8 billion since it was formed in 2013. The district was where successful home-grown start-ups including “super app” Careem and e-commerce platform Souq.com, which was bought and now operates as Amazon, emerged.

Careem is also only one of four UAE unicorns – start-ups with a valuation of at least $1 billion – alongside, Kitopi, Swvl and Emerging Markets Property Group. The Dubai government, under its D33 economic agenda, set forth plans to make the emirate home to 30 unicorns by 2033 – a figure that could be passed, Mr Al Malik said.

"Whether we reach it or not, it's too early to say at this stage. But we have set up the right infrastructure for these 30 start-ups and maybe even more by the deadline that we have," he added.

Start-ups play a crucial role in economies, as they are able to provide smart services that are essential to daily business and personal activities, tapping into the latest technologies to reach a wider set of users. The UAE has emerged as a prominent hub for start-ups, underpinned by government support through business accelerators, financing services and sponsorship programmes to attract entrepreneurs from around the world.

Overall, the small and medium enterprise sector in the UAE has continued to experience notable development and growth, with various companies established in the country evolving into successful businesses within a short span of time, the Ministry of Economy said.

"The talent pool is changing. Dubai is becoming more advanced as more students come in, there are more research and development facilities being built and larger corporations moving into and establishing businesses," Mr Al Malik said. "But then we have start-ups moving into and coming out of this region, and most successful start-ups are located in Dubai. This is a reflection of the talent and we are optimistic about what we see in the future when it comes to that."

Dubai Internet City was established in 1999 and is part of Tecom Group’s portfolio of 10 sector-specific business districts – Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio City, Dubai Production City, Dubai Knowledge Park, Dubai International Academic City, Dubai Science Park, Dubai Industrial City, Dubai Outsource City and Dubai Design District.