Expand North Star 2026

Expand North Star is GITEX Global's startup and investor event, billed by its organizers as the world's largest startup and investor connector. The 2026 edition marks its move to the Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo City Dubai and a decade since the show began, running over three days alongside GITEX Global.

Who attends

The show is built around three groups: startups exhibiting and pitching, investors meeting deal flow through a dedicated programme, and visitors from corporates and government.

• Founders from MVP stage to Series A–C
• Venture capital firms, family offices and sovereign funds
• Corporate innovation teams and enterprise buyers
• Government and ecosystem builders

2026 themes

This year's programme is organised around four themes.

• Founder Restructure: scaling from MVP to Series A–C
• The New Capital Stack: sovereign funds, family offices and venture debt
• Commercial DeepTech: AI, climate, defence and frontier tech
• Scaleup Advantage and emerging markets: GCC, Africa, India and LATAM

Signature features

Alongside the exhibition floor, several programmes run through the three days.

• ENS Founders Academy, a three-day founder learning platform
• Supernova pitch competitions by venture stage
• Investor Programme with pre-arranged onsite meetings
• NS Play for AR/VR hardware, smart health and lifestyle tech
• DigiHealth–Biotech for AI diagnostics, genomics and therapeutics

Key figures (2025 edition)

The organizer reports these figures from the 2025 edition.

• 2,050 exhibiting startups from 96 countries
• 1,300+ investors
• 5,340 pre-arranged onsite meetings
• 400 speakers
• 6,500 founders

Tickets & passes

• Visitor pre-registration — Free: Free visitor ticket via pre-registration
• Founder's Pass: Limited-edition one-day pod for startups; apply via enquiry form
• Investor Programme: For VCs and investors; apply to join