How Mobile Apps Are Bringing Growth For Startups In Dubai

Swarnendu De
4 min readFeb 27, 2017

For the busy millennials like us, mobile apps are life savers. We depend on our smartphones for booking a cab, ordering food, tracking location and what not! Apps are changing the way we live. And in a market like Dubai which appreciates convenience more than anything else, mobile apps are selling like hot cakes.

Young entrepreneurs of Dubai have their hearts on mobile apps. The demand for mobile apps among the tech-savvy millennials is almost insatiable and that’s what’s driving the growth for the app market. As not many app development companies have still not ventured in Dubai and related regions, you will find a good scope to take over the market. Let’s find out what made Dubai a hot place for investment in mobile apps.

What Is The Present Scenes For App Development In Dubai?

Even though it’s still in its early stages, Dubai’s mobile application development industry is ripe with huge possibilities for growth. Local players have taken their positions and the game is surely on.

Look at the stats to know the present scenes:

  1. According to a local app development company, the United Arab Emirates has caught 60% of the smartphone and mobile app market of the entire Middle East.
  2. A recent study by Accenture suggests that there is potential for Dubai tech startups to contribute pretty significantly to the economy of UAE, along the lines of 14 billion (AED 51.4 billion) approximately to the GDP of the country.

With a dip in oil prices in the recent past, a lot of government as well as private agencies are looking for different markets to invest. And as a result of this diversification, Dubai is becoming a hub for tech innovations. Hence, mobile apps has a serious demand in the upcoming years.

Growth of Startups in the Smart City of Dubai

A number of startups took their plunge in the tech industry of Dubai. They are accessing emerging markets with their innovative ideas and touching new heights of growth. With wide varieties of industries like education, health and retail eCommerce emerging in Dubai, they have full-fledged support from government and semi-government organisation.

A number of tech startups have seen success early. To name a few, there’s the car ride sharing company Careem, the online restaurant reservations platform ReserveOut, and the delivery service provider Fetchr.

Notable things about These Startups?

  • All of them have their headquarters in Dubai
  • Most of them have raised funds between $500K and $2M
  • Put together, these startups have raised $2.3B approximately

The Time is Ripe For More App development Players to Come

This is a very exciting time to be a startup in Dubai. It is now home to two hugely successful unicorn startups, Careem Networks and Souq.com, both of which were valued at $1B in 2016.

Despite the economic environment being tougher than other countries in the Middle East, venture capitalists are willing to invest money in Dubai startups. Startups like SocialDice, Luxury Closet, and BitOasis have raised funds from venture capitalists.

28 of the most promising startups in Dubai have already around $1 million from various sources such as venture capitalists, angel investors and corporate venture arms.

Careem, the on-demand car service, is at the top of this list. And around 32 startups have raised funds from angel investors.

Why Logistics and Transport Industry Have an App Development Scope?

App marketing has been so aggressive in Dubai that almost every tech startup now focuses on creating an app to bridge a gap that exists in the market. And logistics businesses are not far behind. Companies like Fetchr, Instashop and Wing are dominating the logistics industry.

Ecommerce And Mcommerce Are Not Far Behind

Among the top startups in Dubai right now, most are ecommerce businesses. With features like Cash on Delivery, easy returns and a wide variety of products available from apparel to electronics- ecommerce is a booming industry in Dubai and it seems to be growing in the next few years.

Are you a startup in Dubai?

Are you one of those smart, tech-savvy, digital startupreneurs who believe in nothing less than cutting-edge technology to grow their businesses? Do you want to ride the growth with your innovative mobile app? Be a part of this app revolution.

Let’s grow your startup in Dubai!

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Swarnendu De

Founder of Innofied & AllRide ★ Helped 1500+ Founders Build Their Technology Products & Startups ★ Author of Books with 50k+ copies sold ★ Speaker ★ Mentor