# ADGM Tech Startup Licence

- **Type:** license
- **Status:** evergreen
- **City:** Abu Dhabi
- **Equity:** No equity
- **Cost:** From USD 1,500/yr at seed
- **Duration:** Evergreen licence
- **Apply:** https://www.adgm.com/business-areas/tech-startup
- **Page:** https://www.dxbstart.com/programs/adgm-tech-startup-licence

The ADGM Tech Startup Licence is a discounted commercial licence in Abu Dhabi’s financial free zone for seed-stage tech companies. Public materials put the seed rate around USD 1,500 a year, with English common-law courts, visa quota tied to desks, and a door into the Hub71 campus story. It is evergreen. It is a place to incorporate, not a selection programme. If you need a sandbox letter to test a regulated product, that is RegLab. If you want Hub71’s cohort, apply to Access separately — the licence does not enrol you.

## Desk take

This is the Abu Dhabi twin of DIFC’s Innovation Licence: cheap common-law paper if you actually operate there. Do not take it as a tourism visa with a .com on top. ADGM will expect a real office story as you grow.

## Eligibility

Abu Dhabi's international financial centre offers an incentivised commercial licence for tech startups that want English common-law jurisdiction and Hub71 access.
- Sector-agnostic: open to local, regional and international tech startups with an innovative, scalable tech business model — but NOT available to technology service providers
- You must first obtain a Hub71 eligibility letter; applications without it have not been accepted since July 2024
- Two stages: seed (USD 1,500/yr licence fee) and emergent (USD 4,000/yr); incentivised pricing for up to three years before transitioning to full fees
- Requires an ADGM office address (each dedicated desk space carries 3 visas), a brief business plan, and a signatory who resides in the UAE
- English common law jurisdiction; eligible startups can apply for dual-licence recognition with Abu Dhabi DED, and separately for Hub71's incentive programme

## Questions

### Does this get me into Hub71?

No. Hub71 Access is a separate application. The licence is incorporation.

### Who is it for?

Early tech companies that want ADGM as the legal home, not trading companies shopping the cheapest zone in the UAE.


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Source: DXBStart — the working index of the UAE startup ecosystem. Canonical page: https://www.dxbstart.com/programs/adgm-tech-startup-licence
More machine-readable resources: https://www.dxbstart.com/llms.txt
Startups can request a listing at https://www.dxbstart.com/submit — free, editorially reviewed.