Recently, five Indian startups secured a fully sponsored soft landing in the United Arab Emirates after emerging as winners of the UAE-India CEPA Council’s Startup Series. The soft-landing package includes incubation support, assistance in establishing a business presence, trade license facilitation, and regulatory guidance.
The UAE-India CEPA Council, formed under the UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), serves as a bilateral platform to accelerate trade, investment, and innovation. The Council’s Startup Series began on June 24, 2025, and within just 50 days attracted applications from more than 10,000 entrepreneurs. Since its launch, the delegation has visited several leading Indian institutions, building partnerships and opening new pathways into the UAE’s startup ecosystem. From this process, 20 startups—spanning artificial intelligence, fintech, sustainability, health technology, manufacturing, agriculture, space, and next-generation mobility—were chosen for the finale.
The finalists pitched before a high-profile jury that included UAE Ambassador to India Abdulnasser Alshaali and leading UAE giants like RAKEZ, Emirates NBD, DP World, Hub71 and First Abu Dhabi Bank. Five teams emerged as winners following a two-day finale held on November 24 and 25 in New Delhi.
These are the Indian startups set to make an impact in the UAE:
Bioreform
Bioreform, selected by RAKEZ, is a Hyderabad-based company creating smart, sustainable packaging made from corn, designed to degrade naturally and return to the environment. Founded by 24-year-old entrepreneur Mohammed Azhar Mohiuddin, the company’s product range includes food pouches, biomedical waste bags, and garbage bags, all made using its proprietary biopolymer blend.
Data Sutram
Emirates NBD selected Data Sutram, an AI platform that processes more than 250 data sources to deliver real-time insights for fraud prevention, underwriting, and customer personalisation. Founded by Rajit Bhattacharya along with Aisik Paul and Ankit Das, the company serves clients across BFSI, CPG, pharma, manufacturing, retail, and e-commerce.
DocketRun
DocketRun, chosen by DP World, is an industrial safety platform that uses edge AI and vision analytics to detect and prevent hazardous events before they occur. Founded by first-generation entrepreneur Ajay Kabadi and incubated at Deshpande Startups in Hubballi, Karnataka, the company provides an AI-powered video analytics platform that monitors an industrial plant’s full cycle of electrical and mechanical operations.
Endimension
Hub71 selected Endimension, a Mumbai-based AI radiology startup supporting more than 800 hospitals and diagnostic centres by improving the speed and accuracy of X-ray, CT, and MRI analysis. Founded by Bharadwaj Kss and Apparao MLV and incubated at IIT Bombay, the startup has developed AI algorithms to automatically detect abnormalities and diseases from medical scans.
SBNRI
SBNRI, selected by First Abu Dhabi Bank, is the fifth winner. Founded by Mudit Vijayvargiya, this Gurugram-based fintech platform offers non-resident Indians a unified digital ecosystem for global banking, investment management, and taxation, providing seamless, transparent, and efficient NRI/OCI financial services.