Masdar City, Abu Dhabi’s regional hub for technology innovation and R&D, and Dana, an Abu Dhabi-based venture builder and investment platform, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to advance national food security, contribute to agritech sustainability, and assist the UAE in meeting key objectives outlined in the National Food Security Strategy 2051.
Masdar City and Dana, which promotes women-led start-ups in agritech, energy and water solutions, and circular economy, will collaborate to develop Masdar City’s first Abu Dhabi-based beta site.
the viability of early-stage agritech ventures in Abu Dhabi that can be developed and piloted When completed, it will concentrate on local and regional start-ups with solutions ranging from “pre-seed” to “Series A.”
“R&D has always been the spark for bringing innovative initiatives to life, pushing necessary reform, and delivering good change across sectors and society,” said Ahmed Baghoum, Acting Executive Director, Masdar City, of the new alliance. Masdar City, Abu Dhabi’s first planned and sanctioned R&D cluster, will ensure that these results continue. It will play a key role in building tomorrow’s sustainable businesses by accepting start-ups and supporting their initiatives as they move from creative concepts to effective forces for good in their respective professions.”
The beta facility will provide enterprises in the UAE and throughout Mena with the infrastructure and expertise needed to tackle food security concerns and resource shortages in arid settings. Several targets in the National Food Security Strategy 2051 will be strengthened, including increasing local production, enabling sustainable food production using contemporary technology, and diversifying food sources through partnership development.
As the agritech industry expands, the partnership has already begun working with venture capitalists and incubators from around the Mena area to provide services to portfolio firms. Through 2026, the regional agricultural market is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 5.7 percent.
“We observe the Abu Dhabi ecosystem’s potential on a daily basis,” said Zada Haj, co-founder and CEO of Dana. “However, the opportunity for hands-on testing of digital solutions in the field is frequently absent.” A pivot is more than simply a new line of code in the agritech sector, thus the product should be assessed for viability, accessibility, and cost as soon as feasible.”
Dana, created by three women, has been operating for over two years as a venture building and investment platform for women-led desert digital start-ups.
The new beta site will emphasize the significance of giving chances for female entrepreneurs in the UAE to scale, in line with the UAE National Agenda on women’s empowerment.
When finished, the park will have 1,700 square meters of greenhouses, net houses, and open field farming, demonstrating several techniques to desert food cultivation. Furthermore, the beta site will concentrate on creating solutions to water shortages, irrigation, greenhouse cooling, soil cultivation, and regeneration difficulties, as well as evaluating the resilience of novel seed kinds.
Many start-ups have already submitted applications to test in Masdar City, and construction is slated to begin in July 2022, with full-time operations set to commence in Q4 of this year.