February 3-4, 2026, Auptimate hosted Rise & Connect: Breakfast for Investors and Founders in the UAE, bringing together a curated group of investors, venture capitalists, and startup founders for a focused morning of conversation and connection. Held in the DIFC district, the session reflected the growing momentum of Abu Dhabi and Dubai as a regional hubs for early-stage capital and cross-border dealmaking.
Co-hosted with Loyal VC, the breakfast created space for meaningful discussions around angel investing, venture capital decision-making, and how founders and investors can work more efficiently across markets. The intimate format encouraged thoughtful exchanges rather than surface-level networking, with participants sharing real experiences from the MENA startup ecosystem.
A recurring topic during was how investors and founders approach forming an SPV from Dubai and Abu Dhabi for regional deal participation, while still choosing to register companies or fund vehicles in Singapore.
One of the highlights was hearing feedback directly from investors in the room. As shared by ENA Venture Capital, the sessions were a valuable opportunity to connect with founders and investors and to reflect on how platforms like Auptimate are helping simplify access to private markets. Their experience using Auptimate to raise and deploy capital through SPVs underscored a recurring theme of the morning: reducing operational friction benefits both founders and investors by accelerating access to capital.
It’s great to see platforms focused on democratizing access to private markets making SPVs simple, compliant, and fast, and giving both founders and investors easier access to startup opportunities. – Jesus Martin (ENA Venture Capital)
Events like Rise & Connect reinforce why the UAE continue to attract global capital and ambitious founders. We are grateful to our partners, speakers, and everyone who joined us for contributing to an open, practical, and high-value discussion.
For updates on upcoming events, follow us on LinkedIn or visit our Events page to stay informed on future Rise & Connect sessions.
