A group of 22 Canadian founders met with Canada’s Consul General in the UAE in October, as part of a delegation to Dubai led by the Canada Startup Association.
Tracy Reynolds, Canada’s Consul General in the UAE, was joined by members of the Trade Commission of Canada and the Canadian Business Council of Dubai to share insights on expanding into the UAE market.
The lesson: unlearn what works at home.
“For many founders, this was their first time witnessing how rapidly ideas can scale when governments, corporations, and venture ecosystems align,” said CSA President Tehmina Chaudhry.
In the Gulf, governments and venture funds often act in tandem, with the UAE alone investing approximately $3 billion USD each year in innovation projects. Capital also moves quickly thanks to deliberate policies aimed at attracting investment.
A panel of Canadian business leaders based in the region described ecosystems with faster funding cycles, relationship-driven deals, and a high value on local presence. The takeaway was that success abroad depends as much on cultural fluency as on a scalable product.
Chaudhry said the point of the trip was to expose this contrast to Canadian companies, which are accustomed to longer funding cycles and slower public-sector alignment.
Toronto-based Phaseshift Technologies was part of the delegation, which took place from October 12-15 during the Expand North Star in Dubai.
The company was Canada’s lone finalist in the event’s SuperNova Challenge, where they showcased an AI platform that predicts the performance of new metal alloys and composites.
For founder and CEO Fazal Mahmood, the time spent in the Middle East offered a chance to measure his company’s readiness against ecosystems built for speed.
Decision-making in the Gulf moves quickly, and access depends on presence and relationships. Few Canadian startups get the chance to test themselves in that environment.
Participating startups also met with funds and accelerators including Abu Dhabi tech organization Hub71, venture capital fund VentureSouq, and the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy. Munawwar Khan, Founder and CEO of Markham-based TeachBuddyAI, said those meetings reshaped his understanding of how to build trust in the Middle East.
“One of my biggest learnings was the importance of local presence and partnerships in the region, something that became possible only through CSA’s support and facilitation,” Khan said. “This experience helped us form a local UAE-based team, finalize key collaborations, and gain direct feedback from educators, investors, and policymakers in UAE.”
According to Chaudhry, the CSA’s goal was to put Canadian founders in rooms where deals happen fast and introductions matter.
“These exchanges offered valuable insights into how the global innovation ecosystem thrives, through tight integration between governments, private investors, and global partners,” Chaudhry said.
The week coincided with an abrupt end to trade talks between Canada and the United States. After almost a year of strained diplomacy between the two allies, the CSA sees delegations like this as a sign that startups are beginning to look beyond North America for opportunity.
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