Author: Emirates Insight

Bahrain’s economy has expanded more than fivefold over the past two decades, growing from approximately $9bn in 2000 to over $47bn by the end of 2024, according to the Ministry of Finance and National Economy. “Bahrain’s sustained economic growth over the past two decades stands as a key national achievement within the kingdom’s broader development journey,” said Maryam Al Ansari, Undersecretary for National Economy at the ministry. The growth has been distributed across productive and service sectors, with official figures reflecting steady progress throughout the economy. Al Ansari highlighted that the expansion has translated into tangible improvements in living standards,…

India’s startup ecosystem raised nearly $11 billion in 2025, but investors wrote far fewer checks and grew more selective about where they took risk, underscoring how the world’s third most-funded startup market is diverging from the AI-fueled capital concentration seen in the U.S. The selective approach was most evident in deal-making. The number of startup funding rounds fell by nearly 39% from a year earlier, to 1,518 deals, according to Tracxn. Total funding slipped more modestly — down just over 17% to $10.5 billion. That pullback was not uniform. Seed-stage funding fell sharply to $1.1 billion in 2025, down 30%…

There is something peculiarly unsettling about talking to someone who has spent decades working on a technology that might render millions of people obsolete. Sven Beiker, Managing Director of Silicon Mobility and a lecturer on the automotive industry at Stanford University, is unfailingly polite about it all. He speaks with the careful optimism of a man who has thought deeply about what he is helping to build, and who is not entirely comfortable with where it might lead. We met on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Summit in November, where the great and good of the self-driving vehicle…

The complaint alleges seven entities misused AI buzzwords and crypto promises to defraud US retail investors of $14 million. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged three entities that claimed to operate crypto asset trading platforms, along with four so-called investment clubs, for allegedly running a large-scale fraud that targeted retail investors through social media. According to the SEC, Morocoin Tech Corp., Berge Blockchain Technology Co. Ltd., and Cirkor Inc., together with AI Wealth Inc., Lane Wealth Inc., AI Investment Education Foundation Ltd., and Zenith Asset Tech Foundation, misappropriated more than $14 million from mostly US-based investors.…

Every year, TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield pitch contest draws thousands of applicants. We whittle those applications down to the top 200 contenders, and of them, the top 20 compete on the big stage to become the winner, taking home the Startup Battlefield Cup and a cash prize of $100,000. But the remaining 180 startups all blew us away as well in their respective categories and compete in their own pitch competition. Here is the full list of the clean tech and energy Startup Battlefield 200 selectees, along with a note on why they landed in the competition.  AraBat  What it does:…

ALA Developments, a newly established luxury residential developer, has announced a development pipeline worth approximately AED1 billion ahead of its formal market launch in January, targeting Dubai’s evolving cohort of quality-focused property buyers. “Dubai’s real estate market has evolved beyond scale alone,” said Hassan Raza, chairman of ALA Developments. “Today’s buyers are discerning, globally exposed, and focused on how a home is designed and how it performs over time. Our developments are guided by that shift.” Founded in January 2025 by Dubai-based entrepreneurs with more than three decades of cross-sector business experience in the UAE, the developer is positioning itself…

RAIN and NIGHT follow suit today in terms of daily gains. Bitcoin’s gradual price recovery to almost $90,000 came to another halt yesterday when the asset was suddenly rejected and dumped by roughly three grand in minutes. Most larger-cap alts have mimicked BTC’s performance, with ETH sliding toward $2,900 again, while XRP has slipped to $1.85. BTC Stopped at $89.5K The primary cryptocurrency had a wild week before the Christmas holidays when it pumped and dumped on several occasions from around $85,000 to $90,000, only to mark a local low at $84,400 after the US CPI numbers for November…

Dubai Future Foundation has released a special edition of its annual Global 50 Report, presenting fourteen opportunities for international collaboration selected from more than 200 future scenarios explored since 2022. “We continue to collaborate with global experts in foresight and future design, building on Dubai’s leadership as a hub for activating future opportunities and as an international platform for cooperation,” said Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of Dubai Future Foundation. “Our objective is to create common ground around global solutions that strengthen communities and safeguard a better future for humanity.” Mapping opportunities across global megatrends The report, titled Global Solutions and Shared…

TechCrunch’s Equity crew is bringing 2025 to a close and getting ahead on the year to come with our annual predictions episode! Hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Rebecca Bellan were joined by Build Mode host Isabelle Johannessen to dissect the year’s biggest tech developments, from mega AI funding rounds that defied expectations to the rise of “physical AI,” and make their calls for 2026.  The group tackled everything from why AI agents didn’t live up to the hype in 2025 (but probably will in 2026), to how Hollywood will push back against AI-generated content, to why VCs are facing a serious liquidity crisis.   Listen to the full episode to hear: …

Riyadh Air has launched an employment-first overseas scholarship programme aimed at training a new generation of Saudi engineers and pilots, with participants hired by the airline before beginning their studies abroad. The initiative, introduced under the ‘Employment-First’ Overseas Scholarship Programme, will begin with specialised engineering tracks in Australia, followed by a commercial pilot training pathway in the United States. The programme forms part of the ‘Promising Path’ track within the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ Scholarship Program, in collaboration with the Ministries of Education and Transport & Logistics Services and the General Authority of Civil Aviation. New scholarship trains…