Abu Dhabi is giving its earliest founders more than advice. Hub71‘s Initiate programme, which pairs people who only have an idea with venture builders who help them build it, has now referred more than 700 startup profiles to its builder network, with over 50 in active discussions. Four startups have been approved so far, and the first of them has already gone from an idea to a working product.
Most startup support in Abu Dhabi has focused on companies that already have a product and some traction. Initiate was built for the stage before that, when a founder has a strong idea and not much else.
Advice is not enough when there is no product yet
Mohammed Alkhoori, head of startup journey and communications at Hub71, says the gap became clear as more aspiring founders approached the ecosystem. Their ideas were too early for the programmes built for later stage companies, so Hub71 decided to meet them where they were, with practical expertise to turn promising ideas into viable businesses.
The difference, according to Ali Oosman, senior vice president for strategy, partnerships and investments at Disrupt.com, is execution. He said mentorship gives founders advice, while venture building gives them execution capacity and expertise in action. At the idea stage, he added, the constraint is rarely a lack of insight. It is a lack of people and product capability.
That is why Initiate does not run as a fixed course. Venture builders work alongside founders to test the problem, build a first version of the product and challenge the assumptions behind it.
More than 700 profiles referred, four startups approved
The numbers suggest the approach is finding its audience. Since Initiate launched in October 2025, it has drawn nearly 5,500 applications, and Hub71 expanded the programme in August 2026 after that response. More than 700 startup profiles have now been referred to venture builders, and over 50 are in active discussions.
Four startups have been approved through Initiate so far, including Prism56.ai and Karar AI, both supported by Fikra Ventures. The network of venture builders behind the programme now includes Disrupt.com, TMC2 MEA, Fikra Ventures, OG Hub and SC Ventures, each with its own way of working and its own investment focus.
Startups that are selected get a free licence and office space at Hub71 for one year, plus access to more than 150 partners. Hub71 itself takes no equity and provides no direct funding through Initiate, while each venture builder sets its own terms.
Prism56.ai went from an idea to a licensed startup
The clearest sign of progress so far is Prism56.ai, an AI driven platform that automates venture capital deal evaluation and investment committee work. It was the first startup selected through Initiate, and it has already received its licence and moved from concept to a minimum viable product.
It is now moving towards validation and pilot deployment, and is in selection for Hub71’s Access programme. For Hub71, that shows the route working as intended, from an idea through venture building and into the wider ecosystem.
Success is not measured in application numbers alone. Hub71 looks at whether founders move towards a business with real commercial potential, with milestones such as licensing progress in Abu Dhabi Global Market, customer traction and early investment.
Workshops for founders who are not ready yet
Not every aspiring founder is ready for a venture builder, and Hub71 has added founder activation sessions for them. These are practical workshops on problem validation, customer discovery and venture creation, aimed at people who may have an idea but have not yet tested it.
Oosman says poor validation is the most common weakness he sees at this stage. He said founders fall in love with a solution before proving the problem is urgent and that someone will pay to solve it. Team shape is the second problem, especially when startups lack technical or product skills.
AI, fintech and healthtech draw the most interest
Interest in Initiate is growing fastest in AI enabled business to business applications that solve established business problems, according to Alkhoori. FinTech and HealthTech also continue to show potential, backed by Abu Dhabi’s existing strengths in those sectors.
Oosman sees Abu Dhabi’s strongest advantage where AI meets sectors such as financial services, energy, climate and healthcare. He said the strongest opportunities will sit at those intersections, in AI native companies built to solve real problems in industries where the region has natural buyers, data, infrastructure and scale.
What Initiate’s progress means for Abu Dhabi’s founders
The honest read is that these numbers are encouraging but early. Four approved startups from 700 referrals is a narrow funnel, and only one, Prism56.ai, has so far shown the full journey from idea to licensed product. That is not a flaw. It is what a funnel for idea stage founders is supposed to look like, and the real test will be how many of the 50 in discussion survive their first year.
What matters more is the shift in thinking behind it. Abu Dhabi has spent years building support for startups that already exist. Initiate is an admission that the hardest part often comes earlier, when there is no product, no team and no proof. If Hub71 can keep turning raw ideas into working products without drowning founders in advice, it will have built a front door that actually opens.
