Abu Dhabi student tech startups earned top awards at the NYUAD Entrepreneurship Incubator Programme. The winning teams created AI tools for smart buildings, education support, and online tutoring. The event highlighted the fast growth of student-led innovation in the UAE.
Student founders in Abu Dhabi are turning ideas into real businesses. Several young innovators won top awards at the New York University Abu Dhabi Entrepreneurship Incubator Programme after presenting projects focused on artificial intelligence, education, and smart technology.
The competition was organised by startAD, a startup accelerator based at NYU Abu Dhabi and supported by Tamkeen. Global logistics company Agility also partnered with the programme to help student founders build new businesses in sectors such as healthcare, construction technology, and cybersecurity.
The first-place award and Dh10,000 prize went to Twynable, an AI-powered platform built to improve facility management inside buildings. The software creates a digital copy of a building and tracks systems in real time. It can monitor structural details, equipment performance, and even maintenance problems such as damaged air conditioning units.
Founder Juan Diego Castaño said the idea came during a visit to the Natural History Museum of Abu Dhabi while the project was still under construction. He noticed large amounts of information spread across many systems.
He explained that the platform helps organise building data in one place. According to him, the system works like a digital map for buildings, similar to how online maps help people navigate cities and roads.
Twynable already secured a pilot programme with NYU Abu Dhabi. The startup is now looking for more partnerships across the UAE. Two NYU Abu Dhabi professors, Borja Garcia De Soto and Eyob Mengiste, are also part of the founding team.
Another successful project was Colleged, which earned second place in the competition. The platform connects high school students with university students who provide tutoring and admissions advice at affordable prices.
Co-founder Ayberk Cimen said he and co-founder Cagan Okur struggled when applying to universities outside Turkey. They lacked guidance and had to learn the process on their own.
After joining NYU Abu Dhabi, the pair decided to create a platform that would make university admissions support easier for students worldwide. The service launched in February and already includes mentors from major universities, including Harvard University.
The audience choice award went to Lemma Education, an AI-powered maths tutor designed to support students in real time. The platform can listen to students, watch them solve maths problems on a digital screen, and respond like a human tutor.
Co-founder Shayan Ahmad said the goal is to make quality tutoring available to more students. He explained that private tutoring is often too expensive for many families.
The platform supports voice, typing, and handwriting at the same time. Co-founder Myra Rafiq said students learn in different ways, so the software was designed to match different learning styles.
Other members of the Lemma Education team include Daniar Zhylangozov and Vlera Mehani.
The startup competition is now in its third year. Organisers said the programme has supported nearly 70 entrepreneurs so far.
Ashwin Joshi, Director of startAD, said this year’s founders showed strong technical skills and focused on solving real-world problems important to the UAE economy.
This year’s group included 40 founders from more than 20 nationalities. Their projects covered many industries, including fintech, medtech, cybersecurity, and construction technology.
According to Nihal Shaikh, the latest programme also showed strong gender balance, with almost equal numbers of male and female participants.
The success of these Abu Dhabi student tech startups reflects the growing startup ecosystem in the UAE. Universities and innovation programmes are giving young founders more opportunities to build businesses, test new ideas, and attract investment.
As artificial intelligence continues to shape industries worldwide, student entrepreneurs in Abu Dhabi are showing how technology can solve daily problems in education, construction, and digital services.
