Expand North Star 2025: Digital Finance & Deep-Tech Innovations
▼ Summary
– Expand North Star 2025 brought together key industry leaders to discuss the future of decentralized finance and venture capital, focusing on digital assets.
– The Gitex Digital Assets Forum addressed institutional investment topics like tokenization and its liquidity benefits for short-term investors.
– The event featured a panel on deep-tech investment, emphasizing the need to accelerate AI adoption and validate technologies like quantum computing through collaboration.
– AI applications in healthcare were showcased, including mental health support via AI-powered robocalls in India and a robot aiding children with autism in Pakistan.
– Expand North Star 2025 attracted 2,000 startups and over 1,200 investors managing more than $1.1 trillion in assets, highlighting its scale and global impact.
Expand North Star 2025 brought together thousands of visitors and industry pioneers for its second day at Dubai Harbor, focusing on the transformative power of digital finance and deep-tech innovations. The event featured an impressive lineup of tech showcases, keynote speeches, and panel discussions exploring digital assets and emerging technology markets. Running through October 15, this tenth edition hosts a comprehensive four-day program with 2,000 exhibiting startups and over 1,200 investors collectively managing assets surpassing $1.1 trillion.
Key figures from the digital assets and venture capital sectors convened to examine developments that will define the future of decentralized finance. The newly launched Gitex Digital Assets Forum addressed institutional investment themes like tokenization and its liquidity advantages for short-term investors. Discussions also emphasized the critical need to democratize capital access to foster inclusive investment growth across the industry.
Val Malinovskiy, YPay’s founder and CEO, stated during his keynote, “Digital assets have moved beyond experimental status to become integral components of global financial systems, touching everything from institutional portfolios to consumer transactions.” He stressed the necessity of building connections between traditional finance and the new digital economy, noting the vital function of gatherings like Expand North Star 2025 in integrating digital assets responsibly and securely at a large scale. Malinovskiy further remarked, “Trust, regulation, and collaboration are essential for future progress. That’s precisely why these dialogues matter, they unite influential leaders to steer the next phase of institutional engagement with digital assets, assessing both risks and realignment opportunities.”
A high-level panel titled “The Next Frontier: Deep Tech, Frontier Markets and Untapped Sectors” investigated the forthcoming evolution of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, and climate technology. Participants explored how these fields can address challenges in slow-growth and saturated markets. The vibrant discussion included representatives from global technology leaders like Nvidia, Samsung, and Honda, alongside regional venture capital specialists, all pinpointing the next major innovations set to revolutionize international markets.
Nvidia’s Head of Developer Relations, Wei Xiao, commented that to seize the next transformative opportunity, increasing deep-tech investment within the nascent startup ecosystem is crucial for accelerating AI adoption. Sung Sik Byun, Head of EMEA at Samsung Venture Investment, highlighted that enhanced cooperation among research centers, including government-supported R&D facilities and corporate initiatives, will create more opportunities to validate emerging technologies such as quantum computing.
Expand North Star 2025 continues to draw visionary disruptors to Dubai Harbor. Among the standout exhibitors, Florida-based Euphoria AI employs an AI-powered robocall service to address mental health concerns in India. Partnering with a local NGO, the service enables young Indian students experiencing academic stress to call support hotlines and converse with specially trained AI voice assistants. This initiative offers vital mental health relief for individuals in low-income rural communities who might otherwise lack support.
Children with autism are also receiving assistance from ‘TimTim’, a robot developed by Haprow, a robotics and AI firm from Pakistan. TimTim represents Pakistan’s first commercial robot designed to aid special education, including autism care, and support school learning. Created with input from child specialists and educators, it helps enhance communication, social, and cognitive skills for children with special needs.
Muhammad Ali Abbas, Haprow’s founder and CEO, shared, “We are making an international impact and came to Expand North Star to scale our product to more countries. Exhibiting here has been a phenomenal experience; we’ve connected with numerous companies expressing strong interest in our offering.”
(Source: Economy Middle East)
