In recent years, the UAE has become a hub for purpose-driven startups committed to leveraging innovation to solve problems, enhance lives, create opportunities, and redefine industries. 

The wellness sector in the UAE has seen a surge of innovation, driven by a need for more personalized and culturally relevant health solutions. Simply Healthy, founded by Mitun De Sarkar, is one such example. “I realized people needed tailored, sustainable, and culturally relevant guidance,” De Sarkar says.  

Instead of providing one-size-fits-all meal plans, Simply Healthy offers diverse dietary needs of people from different cultures and backgrounds. The company’s holistic approach to wellness combines personalized meal plans, a supplement line, and fitness services that aim to optimize health in real-life settings. “Everything we offer is built around real-life challenges faced by people in the UAE.”

Similarly, Bioniq, founded by Vadim Fedotov, offers micronutrient-based supplementation with data-driven insights to customize supplements based on each customer’s unique health profile, such as age, gender, and specific deficiencies.“We educate our customers that one pill doesn’t fit all — everybody has their unique need,” he says. 

In a region where preventative health is becoming a top priority, Bioniq has grown its customer base in the UAE by over 500% in just one year. 

SIMPLIFYING COMPLEX PROCESSES WITH TECHNOLOGY

While wellness startups like Simply Healthy and Bioniq are reshaping health and nutrition, others are revolutionizing entirely different sectors, such as simplifying bureaucratic processes with innovative technology.

One such startup is Visarun.AI, which is tackling the challenges travelers face in navigating visa applications. Sharing what triggered the development of their solutions, Alena Iakina, co-founder and COO, says, 

“Each team member has faced the traditional visa process, and too often, it was painful, time-consuming, and expensive. The process is confusing, slow, and filled with unclear instructions and endless back-and-forth.” 

The company uses AI to simplify the visa application by automating eligibility checks, document submissions, and status updates. The platform offers a faster, more reliable, and less stressful experience for both travellers and businesses. 

Meanwhile, Holo, co-founded by CEO Michael Hunter, simplifies home financing. “Our digital platform brings clarity to what has traditionally been a complex process.” 

The platform uses a proprietary algorithm to identify competitive mortgage products. It provides users with a detailed, itemized cost breakdown of mortgages, ensuring no hidden surprises. 

Hunter says Holo has already onboarded over 300 partners in the UAE. Their success stems from their deep understanding of local regulatory requirements and consumer behavior, and their focus on building strong relationships with established lenders.

REDEFINING ENTREPRENEURSHIP

While Holo is revolutionizing home financing, Obsession, founded by Mohamad Badr, takes an unconventional approach by helping founders turn transformative ideas into reality. It seeks the few groundbreaking ideas that have the potential to reshape entire industries. Badr says, “We’re not interested in 100 average ideas. We’re looking for the three that could reshape an industry.”

Through the Moonshot Challenge, Obsession helps entrepreneurs turn audacious visions into actionable strategies. Badr’s company uses a structured creative approach, the 3IB model (Insight, Ideas, Innovation, Breakthrough), to help founders develop breakthrough business models that challenge the status quo. “If traditional innovation programs help you go faster, 3IB helps you go further and bigger.”

Unlike traditional incubators that focus on early-stage startups with ready-made ideas, Badr says they work with more established founders ready to leap forward, helping them shift from raw ambition to execution. The company’s methodology, he says, is designed to identify the fundamental human truth behind each business idea, apply innovative thinking, and create a roadmap for success. 

Badr notes that the challenge for founders is rarely a lack of vision—it’s the lack of structure and the ability to experiment with ideas. By helping founders break down their bold visions into smaller, more manageable steps, Obsession enables them to turn their passion into real, scalable businesses.

THE FUTURE OF INNOVATION IN THE UAE

Clearly, these startups are already transforming their respective industries and laying the foundation for the future of innovation in the UAE. So, what’s their plan for the future? 

Hunter says Holo’s vision for the future of homebuying in the UAE is to make the process more connected and transparent. With the real estate market projected to grow significantly in the coming years, Holo is preparing to expand into new GCC markets while continuing to refine its platform to meet each market’s unique needs. 

For Iakina, the future of visa processing will be completely digital and seamlessly integrated, reducing the reliance on traditional paperwork and long wait times. She says that by expanding multilingual support and incorporating predictive insights into visa applications, they are working to make international travel simpler and more accessible for everyone.“Our vision is to make international travel easier, more accessible, and stress-free for everyone, everywhere, enabling seamless global mobility driven by technology and user-centric innovation.”

Bioniq, on the other hand, is at the forefront of the wellness revolution, shifting the focus from reactive care to proactive, data-driven health management. With advancements in personalized health monitoring and precision supplementation, Fedotov says they are helping users optimize their health through real-time data, making it a key player in the future of preventive wellness. “Our mission is to make health actionable and accessible, and we do that by bridging the gap between science and everyday well-being.”

De Sarkar says Simply Healthy aims to expand its reach and offer more immersive, AI-personalized nutrition solutions. The company’s long-term vision is to create a wellness ecosystem, integrating functional medicine, corporate wellness, and advanced biohacking techniques to meet the region’s growing demand for holistic health services.

“We focus on evidence-backed protocols and help clients understand the ‘why’ behind every recommendation. We don’t just hand out meal plans; we educate, support, and adapt.”

Speaking for Obsession, Badr says that one of the most important things about their work is that it is homegrown. “We didn’t parachute in from Silicon Valley or London,” he says. We are proud to be born in the region, and now, we’re scaling outward with deep cultural fluency and global ambition.”