# FutureTech World Cup — Dubai AI Festival 2026

- **Type:** challenge
- **Status:** closed
- **Cycle:** Dubai AI Festival 2026
- **City:** Dubai
- **Equity:** Prize / no standard equity
- **Cost:** No fee published
- **Duration:** Competition
- **Apply:** https://dubaiaifestival.com/startup-application/
- **Page:** https://www.dxbstart.com/programs/futuretech-world-cup

FutureTech World Cup was listed against the Dubai AI Festival 2026 as a challenge / competition, not a standing accelerator. We could not lock a trustworthy apply-and-close pair on 23 August 2026, so the page is closed. The slug stays for the next festival cycle. If you are building AI and want a Dubai stage, watch the festival site and GITEX-week challenges (Supernova is the dated one on this board).

## Desk take

Festival competitions die when the festival ends. We keep the URL so the next year is not a 404. Do not plan your raise around it.

## Eligibility

AI startup pitch competition held at Dubai AI Festival 2026 (26–27 Oct 2026, Dubai World Trade Centre; organised by Dubai AI Campus/DIFC).
- Pre-seed, seed or MVP-stage startups (bootstrapped)
- Revenue cap: under $250K per annum
- Tech-enabled with a forward-looking vision; categories span generative AI, robotics, cybersecurity, digital twin, computer vision, autonomous vehicles and more
- Open to startups worldwide, but you must attend and pitch live in Dubai
- Startup application form is live on the festival site

## Questions

### Is this GITEX?

Related Dubai tech-calendar gravity, not the same object as Expand North Star / Supernova.

### Will it return in 2027?

If the festival runs a cup again we will reopen this slug with new dates.


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