Two Indian Startups Make It Into Abu Dhabi's Competitive Hub71 Cohort 18

Two Indian startups, Uravu Labs and Endimension Technology, have been selected for Hub71 Cohort 18 in Abu Dhabi, joining 25 other companies chosen from a record 2,453 applications across 112 countries. The cohort’s 1.1% acceptance rate makes it one of the programme’s most competitive rounds; the intake expands Hub71’s ecosystem to 525 companies and comprises 27 startups headquartered outside the UAE for the first time.

“At Hub71, we enable founders to secure commercial traction and capital, and to grow from Abu Dhabi into global markets,” said Ahmad Ali Alwan, CEO of Hub71.

Why the selections matter

Both Indian startups will enter Hub71’s 12-month Access Programme, which provides up to AED 250,000 in in-kind incentives and an additional AED 250,000 in cash via a SAFE note, along with mentorship, investor introductions, regulatory support and access to corporate and government partners. Top performers may qualify for follow-on support and pathways to scale from Abu Dhabi into global markets.

• Uravu Labs (Bengaluru) — Founded in 2019 and led by co-founder and CEO Swapnil Shrivastav, Uravu Labs builds modular systems that produce drinking water from atmospheric moisture using renewable heat sources such as solar, biomass and industrial waste heat. The company uses proprietary liquid salts to absorb and condense atmospheric moisture into pure, mineral-rich water. Uravu’s current customers include India’s hospitality and beverage sectors, and the company is expanding into data centre cooling applications where water demand is rising alongside AI infrastructure buildout. Uravu has raised $6.07 million across multiple rounds, with its most recent Pre-Series A round led by Enrission India Capital and participation from Echo River Capital, Inflection Point Ventures and AWE Funds.
• Endimension Technology (Mumbai) — Incubated at IIT Bombay, Endimension is an AI-first radiology platform designed to detect abnormalities from chest radiographs and other imaging modalities to reduce misdiagnoses and boost radiologist efficiency. The company highlights India’s acute radiologist shortage—approximately 1:100,000—alongside a retrospective radiology error rate near 30%. Endimension is part of the NVIDIA AI Inception Program and Microsoft for Startups, and has deployed technology across hospitals and radiology labs in India. It raised Rs 6 crore in a Pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures, with participation from Sucseed Indovation and SINE IIT Bombay. Endimension will join Hub71’s Life Sciences specialist track.

Context and cohort composition

Cohort 18 includes startups spanning pre-seed to Series A stages and sector-specific tracks: Hub71+ Digital Assets, Hub71+ ClimateTech and Hub71+ Life Sciences. Notable cohort members include EchoTwin, a U.S. company converting municipal vehicle fleets into real-time infrastructure sensing networks, and KPay, a Hong Kong-based fintech that has raised AED 238.7 million and is expanding payment operations from Abu Dhabi. Across the cohort, seven startups join Hub71+ Life Sciences, six join Hub71+ Digital Assets and five join Hub71+ ClimateTech. Hub71 reported that 31% of applications arrived via partner and founder networks.

Outlook

For Uravu Labs, Hub71 offers direct access to a region where water scarcity is an operational reality and where governments fund climate technology deployment. For Endimension, the programme provides regulatory guidance and institutional introductions in a market investing heavily in AI-driven healthcare. Both startups gain a structured route to scale in the Middle East and beyond while tapping Hub71’s investor and corporate networks to pursue commercial traction and follow-on capital.