- Thousands of attendees gathered for Day 2 of the world's largest startup and investor connector event to explore the key trends shaping tomorrow's digital innovation sectors
(Visitors explore the Future Blockchain Summit and Fintech Surge zones during Day 2 of Expand North Star)
Dubai, UAE – 13 October 2025: Expand North Star, the world's largest startup and investor event – as part of GITEX GLOBAL, saw thousands of visitors attend the show's second day at Dubai Harbour. Attendees enjoyed a series of tech showcases, as well as panel discussions, keynote addresses, and conversations on a range of subjects, including digital assets and new deep-tech frontier markets.
The 10th edition of Expand North Star, running until 15 October, features a comprehensive four-day programme that has attracted 2,000 exhibiting startups and more than 1,200 investors, with assets under management (AUM) exceeding US$1.1 trillion.
Charting The Future of Digital Assets
Expand North Star gathered key industry leaders from the digital assets and VC investment space to discuss a range of issues that will shape the future of decentralised finance and venture capital. The all-new GITEX Digital Assets Forum tackled institutional investment topics such as tokenisation and its liquidity benefits for short-term investors, plus the importance of democratising capital to scale inclusive investment across the sector.
“Digital assets are no longer a fringe experiment. They have become part of financial systems worldwide – from institutional capital to everyday consumers,” said Val Malinovskiy, Founder & CEO of YPay said during his keynote address. As a partner of Dubai Chamber and sponsor of Expand North Star, he emphasised the importance of creating a bridge between traditional finance and the new economy, highlighting the role events such Expand North Star play in integrating digital assets responsibly, securely and at scale.
“We know the future needs trust, regulation, and collaboration. That is why these conversations are so important, bringing together leading voices to shape the next chapter of institutional involvement in digital assets, exploring risk returns and realignment.”
Exploring The Next Frontiers of Deep-Tech
The future evolution of AI, quantum computing, robotics, and climate tech and their role in overcoming the challenges of slow growth markets and saturated sectors all featured in a high-level panel discussion: ‘The Next Frontier: Deep Tech, Frontier Markets and Untapped Sectors'. The wide-ranging, dynamic conversation featured panellists from global tech giants such as Nvidia, Samsung, and Honda, as well as local VC experts – all highlighting the next major breakthroughs that will transform markets worldwide.
Wei Xiao, Head of Developer Relations at Nvidia, said during Monday's panel that to capitalise on the next big game-changing opportunity, increasing deep-tech investment into the nascent startup ecosystem is needed to help accelerate the adoption of AI, while Sung Sik Byun, Head of EMEA at Samsung Venture Investment, mentioned that increased collaboration among research centres, such as government-backed R&D facilities as well as corporate efforts, will provide more chances to validate new technologies such as quantum computing.
Harnessing the Healthcare Power of AI
Expand North Star continues to attract visionary disruptors to Dubai Harbour. Among the notable exhibitors, Euphoria AI from Florida (USA) is using its AI-powered robocall service to support mental health issues in India. Working with an NGO in the country, young Indian students facing academic pressures can call support hotlines to chat with specially trained AI voice engine assistants. The service provides much-needed mental relief for those with no support, especially in low-income rural areas.
Children with autism are benefitting from the assistance of ‘TimTim', a robot made by Haprow – a robotics and AI company from Pakistan. TimTim is the first commercial robot in Pakistan created to support special education (including autism care) and school learning. It was developed with insights from child specialists and educators to provide support for school learning and therapy to special children, and helps develop their communication, social, and cognitive skills.
Muhammad Ali Abbas, Founder & CEO of Haprow, said at the show: “We are now making global waves, and came to Expand North Star to expand and scale our product at this big event to more countries. The experience of exhibiting here is truly phenomenal; we have met lots of companies that are interested in our product.”
Expand North Star 2025 continues on Wednesday.
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