Six startups advance to the next stage of Mastercard Lighthouse UAE program, supported by the AI Office

The Artificial Intelligence Office, in collaboration with the Mastercard Center for Advanced AI and Cyber Technology in Dubai, announced the selection of six AI startups to advance to the next stage of the inaugural edition of Mastercard Lighthouse UAE. The milestone reflects the joint commitment of both organizations to supporting high-potential startups, accelerating their growth, and transforming their technological innovations into scalable enterprise solutions capable of competing in global markets.

The selected startups are Loyyal, NewForm Technologies, NodeShift, Polynome, Valura.Ai and zypl.ai. As part of the program, they will participate in an intensive four-month mentorship program led by a distinguished group of global experts, designed to strengthen their technologies, accelerate their growth, and expand collaboration opportunities with financial institutions, investors, and strategic business partners.

The program provides participating startups with an integrated ecosystem of tools, expertise, and collaborations that enables them to develop scalable solutions and transform innovative ideas into practical applications that support the future of financial services and the digital economy.

Dr. Abdelrahman Al Mahmoud, Director at the Artificial Intelligence Office, said that the UAE has adopted a forward-looking vision that positions artificial intelligence as a key driver of the national economy. He noted that strategic collaborations between government and the private sector are essential to accelerating AI adoption and expanding its economic and developmental impact, while strengthening national capabilities and reinforcing the UAE's position as a global hub for the development and adoption of AI and emerging technologies.

Al Mahmoud added: "Investing in AI startups is a direct investment in the future economy. Initiatives such as the Mastercard Lighthouse UAE program provide an integrated ecosystem that enables high-potential companies to refine their solutions, accelerate growth, and scale internationally. By creating the right environment for innovation to thrive, these initiatives strengthen the UAE's innovation ecosystem and further cement the country's leadership in the digital economy."

“Mastercard Lighthouse UAE is proud to welcome its first cohort of founders. Delivered under our Center for Advanced AI and Cyber Technology, the selected startups bring together different strengths, diverse perspectives and a shared ambition to build bold solutions that can shape the future of financial services and AI in the UAE.

Together, they reflect the energy, innovation and forward momentum at the heart of the initiative,” said Gina Petersen-Skyrme, country manager, UAE & Oman, Mastercard.  

A comprehensive set of criteria

The program attracted strong interest from AI startups, with applications evaluated by a panel of experts against a comprehensive set of criteria, including the level of innovation, team capabilities, business model, scalability, and global growth potential. Following a comprehensive selection process, 14 startups advanced to the final stage, from which six companies were selected to continue in the program.

Loyyal - an AI- and blockchain-powered loyalty platform that enables banks, airlines, retailers, and enterprises to design flexible rewards programs while delivering interoperable loyalty experiences and personalized customer engagement through an integrated enterprise platform.

NewForm Technologies -an Agentic AI solutions for regulated financial institutions. Its FinAI Studio platform automates complex banking operations while ensuring data privacy, enhancing security, and supporting large-scale enterprise deployment.

NodeShift - provides a secure platform enabling organizations to leverage leading AI models, including Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini, by anonymizing and protecting sensitive data before it is processed outside the organization. 

Polynome - develops Agentic AI solutions that enable banks, government entities, and the transportation and aviation sectors to automate customer interactions and streamline operational workflows through multilingual, multimodal AI technologies in both Arabic and English.

zypl.ai - a Stanford-born company specializing in AI-driven risk management powered by synthetic data. Its solutions enable financial institutions to build more accurate, resilient, and explainable models for credit scoring, fraud detection, and collections management, with deployments spanning more than 20 markets worldwide.

Valura.AI - offers an AI-powered investment platform providing end-to-end portfolio management solutions, from onboarding through asset allocation, with real-time monitoring and intelligent portfolio rebalancing across global markets through licensed channels in the UAE and India.

Opportunity to Build New Relationships

Over the coming months, the six selected startups will benefit from an intensive mentorship program and strategic guidance provided by Mastercard experts to further refine their solutions and strengthen their readiness for expansion. They will also have the opportunity to build new collaborations with financial institutions, investors, and business partners, while exploring new growth opportunities and pathways into global markets.

The program will conclude with a Demo Day, where participating startups will showcase their solutions and highlight the progress achieved throughout the program to an audience of leading representatives from the innovation and investment ecosystem.

Mastercard Lighthouse UAE

The inaugural UAE edition of the program was launched in May 2026 to attract startups developing innovative solutions across fintech, Agentic AI, smart commerce, risk management, trust and operational resilience, as well as technologies that support financing for micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME). The program is supported by a distinguished network of ecosystem collaborators, including Hub71, Global Ventures, Further Ventures, Shorooq, VentureSouq (VSQ), the Dubai Future District Fund, and the Emirates Institute of Finance (EIF) Innovation Hub.

Mastercard Lighthouse was launched in 2018 in the Nordic and Baltic regions and has since expanded to Türkiye and the UAE. To date, the initiative has brought to life over 300 collaborations and generated more than $1.3 billion in investments while producing several unicorns among its 228 alumni.

The launch of the program in the UAE reflects a shared commitment to strengthening collaboration between startups and financial institutions while accelerating the development and adoption of AI-powered solutions. It further supports the UAE's vision of reinforcing its position as a global hub for innovation and advanced financial technologies.