Apply to attend
Our mission is to create a meaningful experience with unparalleled networking opportunities for all attendees. The more detailed you are with your application answers, the better we can connect you with the right people and best serve the group.
We are looking for accredited investors as well as founders and thought leaders who are open-minded, have a startup mindset, are passionate about learning about Dubai and how to grow their business, raise capital and meet with Dubai’s decision makers.
Four steps
Step 1
Your contact information and the company or fund you are applying on behalf of.
Step 2
Choose: Investor, Founder, Government Official, or Student
Step 3
Answer questions tailored to your profile
Step 4
If your application fits the cohort, we arrange a call to talk through objectives and the right package.
Applying as an investor or a founder? Read the investor briefing or the startup briefing first — it will make your answers sharper.
Who we look for
Everyone applies through the same form and tells us which track fits. What we are assessing is different for each, so it helps to know what we are reading for.
Post-revenue companies ready to sell into the Gulf, not just visit it.
Accredited investors, family offices and fund GPs looking at MENA deal flow.
Programmes bringing a portfolio rather than a single company.
Brands that want to reach the delegation and the wider show floor.
None of these are hard gates. If you are close but not exact — pre-revenue with an unusual edge, an angel below the usual threshold, a corporate innovation team rather than a fund — apply anyway and tell us why. Judgement beats a checklist.
What you are applying for
The delegation is not a group ticket. Every accepted participant gets a schedule assembled around their objectives before they land.
Before you start
The form takes about ten minutes. It is worth answering properly — the detail you give is what the meeting schedule is built from.
Why apply at all
Anyone can buy a pass to the show. Almost nobody comes home with anything, and the reason is consistent.
GITEX GLOBAL 2026 fills Expo City Dubai for five days. Walking it without a plan means queueing to speak to whoever happens to be free, competing with thousands of other companies doing exactly the same thing. The people you actually need are in meetings that were booked weeks earlier.
Family offices and sovereign-linked funds do not take cold approaches seriously, and a first conversation rarely leads anywhere on its own. Being introduced by someone with standing changes what that meeting is — a warm introduction is not a formality here, it is the entire mechanism.
Government offices and major funds will meet a curated delegation of vetted companies when they would not clear the diary for one. Travelling as part of a group of peers is also, in practice, where a good share of the value ends up — the other founders and investors on the trip.
Most trips die in the fortnight afterwards, when momentum meets a full inbox back home. Staying on the introductions that showed promise is unglamorous work, and it is what separates a week that produced something from a week that produced photographs.
Application form
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Questions
Deliberately. The delegation is capped at roughly 100 startups and a much smaller investor cohort, because the value of the week comes from who is in the room rather than how many. Not every application is accepted, and applying does not commit you to anything.
Packages are quoted individually, which is why there are no prices on this site. What you pay depends on the track, the tier and how much of the logistics you want handled. Nobody is asked for payment details during the application — pricing comes up on the call, after we both know the fit is right.
Your application is reviewed by the team against the track you applied for. If it looks like a fit, we will come back to arrange a call to talk through what you want from the week and which package matches it. If it is not a fit this year, we will tell you rather than leave you waiting.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and the earlier tiers tend to close first — booth space and curated meeting slots are finite.
Travel and accommodation are arranged by you, but the delegation packages include discounted accommodation, partial transport to and from the conference, and a Dubai-based assistant on the ground. Most nationalities can obtain a UAE visa on arrival or online; we will tell you what applies to your passport once you are accepted.
Yes. Additional team members can be added to most tiers, and larger packages include multiple badges as standard. Tell us the headcount in your application so the meeting schedule is built for the right number of people.
Cancellations more than 60 days before the event are refunded in full, 50% between 30 and 59 days, and nothing inside 30 days — by which point booth space, badges and meetings have been committed on your behalf. The full terms are on the terms page.
