ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)

AR Engineering was crowned the inaugural winner of the UMEX Next_Gen Pitch Competition at UMEX and SimTEX 2024, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).

UMEX and SimTEX 2024 have been organised by ADNEC Group and the Ministry of Defence, with EDGE Group as a strategic partner, to provide an international platform to showcase technologies and innovations in the unmanned systems, robotics, and artificial intelligence sectors. 

Over the three days of the exhibitions, startups competed in the UMEX NEXT_GEN Pitch Competition to be awarded the accolade of “UMEX NEXT_GEN 2024 Champion startup”. The top five companies competing in the final included DroneLeaf, AIR6 SYSTEMS GmbH, STRADai, EXO Drones, and the winner, AR Engineering. 

AR Engineering is a UAE software development company that specialises in advanced augmented reality solutions and creating advanced digital twins. Through digital twin solutions, AR Engineering can create a digital model of a physical product or system that serves as an effectively indistinguishable digital counterpart. The technology has applications in simulation, integration, testing, monitoring, and maintenance.

More than 20 innovative startups from seven countries took part in UMEX NEXT_GEN 2024, bringing their cutting-edge solutions to market, some for the very first time. This new feature at the event served as an ideal platform for companies to present their ideas, products, and business strategies, and showcase the latest solutions in the unmanned systems to global leaders, decision-makers, official delegations, and major international companies.

The competition enabled these startups to support their businesses by networking with investors, establishing effective partnerships to foster trade and investment opportunities, while highlighting their technology solutions in the defence, environmental, civil, and humanitarian industries.

The launch of UMEX Next_Gen at this year's edition aims to continue building Abu Dhabi as a hub for innovation in these essential sectors, while presenting an opportunity for startups to benefit from the exposure. UMEX and SimTEX are the only event of their kind in the region, providing a world-class platform for showcasing the latest innovations in the unmanned systems, artificial intelligence, and robotics sectors.