Bring a demo, not a deck
The floor is loud and attention is measured in seconds. Something a visitor can see working in thirty seconds outperforms any amount of narrative, and it survives the language gap far better than slides do.
U.S. Innovation Pavilion
Unveiling the Inaugural U.S. Innovation Pavilion at Expand North Star
Tech giants and breakout startups across AI, cybersecurity, mobility and sustainable tech gather at GITEX GLOBAL 2026 — the world’s biggest technology event — under the theme Bold New Frontiers — Intelligent Economy. Expand North Star, its startup and investor arm, now runs inside the main show.
What it is
A U.S. address on the world’s biggest show floor
Ghani Events is building the first-ever U.S. Startup Exhibition Pavilion at Expand North Star— the dedicated startup and investor programme, which now runs alongside the main GITEX show under one roof rather than as a separate satellite conference — to help the most promising U.S. entrepreneurs bring their companies, products and services to a global audience.
Every year, 900+ investors attend Expand North Star to expand their investment portfolios and discover new global talent. To date, 120+ countries have been represented at the conference, presenting an unparalleled opportunity for international exposure.
Who exhibits
- AI
- Cybersecurity
- Mobility
- Sustainable tech
- and more
Why exhibit
What Every Exhibitor Receives
One package of stand, badges, curated meetings and visibility — the same for every U.S. company on the Pavilion floor at GITEX GLOBAL 2026.
Your stand, built for you
- Fully-built, branded startup pod + one chair within the U.S. Pavilion
- Lead capture technology + free Wi-Fi in the exhibition area
- Company logo and profile showcased on screen at the U.S. Pavilion
Badges and floor access
- 1 GITEX Exhibitor Badge, with access to all GITEX Global pavilions, stages and speaking sessions
- Access to the exclusive GITEX Global Startup Beach Party
- 1 additional GITEX Delegate Badge
Curated meetings
- Curated meetings via both GITEX and Ghani Consulting match-making services
Pitch stages
- Opportunity to apply to pitch at the GITEX Supernova Challenge
- Opportunity to apply to pitch at the Dubai Tech Experience Startup Challenge
The DTE delegation
- Dubai Tech Experience exclusive events including the Marina Yacht Party
- Access to the Dubai Tech Experience Founders/CEO MasterMind
Visibility before and after
- Access to the GITEX Exhibitor App, with company logo and profile featured on the app
- Company logo, profile and website link on the Dubai Tech Experience website
- Company logo, profile and website link showcased in email blasts
- Video interview, created at GITEX, posted on social media and other platforms
Pavilion space is allocated by application, not sold through this site. Scope, stand size and the number of curated meetings are confirmed with you on a call.
Track record
2023 Expand North Star Stats
The last published figures for the co-located startup programme the Pavilion sits inside.
- 1,835Exhibiting Startups
- 923Investors
- 650Speakers
- 18Conference Tracks
- 58,000Attendees
- 8,900Concierge meetings between startups and investors
- 30Qualified startups met by the average investor, per day
- $1 TrillionOf assets under management represented
Figures published by the organisers for the 2023 edition of Expand North Star. The U.S. Innovation Pavilion opens inside the same programme at GITEX GLOBAL 2026.
On the floor
What the show looks like
Delegation halls, stands and receptions from previous Dubai Tech Experience delegations to GITEX Global.
Why it matters
Why a national pavilion beats a stand of your own
A single startup booth on a floor this size is close to invisible. A national pavilion is not.
Buyers navigate by country
Delegations arriving to source technology do not walk the floor company by company. They walk it by pavilion, because a national grouping is a shortcut: it signals vetting, and it concentrates a category of supplier in one place. Being inside the U.S. Pavilion puts you on that route. Being two halls away, with a table, does not.
The flag does credibility work you cannot buy
For a Gulf buyer or investor evaluating an unfamiliar American company, presence in an organised national pavilion is a signal of legitimacy — someone has already checked that you are a real business. That is worth more to an early-stage company than the square metres.
Press and organisers cover pavilions
A first-of-its-kind national pavilion is a story in a way that an individual exhibitor is not. Media tours, organiser walkthroughs and official visits route through pavilions, and every company inside one is part of that footprint without buying it separately.
Before you exhibit
What separates a good week from an expensive one
The stand is the easy part. These are the things companies wish they had sorted before landing.
Send someone who can decide
Regional buyers move quickly when they move at all. A stand staffed by people who have to check with head office loses the conversation to a competitor who brought the person who could say yes.
Know your entity answer
“How would we contract with you here?” comes up in almost every serious conversation. Having a considered answer — free zone, mainland, partner, or genuinely undecided — separates companies that get a second meeting from those that do not.
Plan the follow-up before you fly
Decide who writes the follow-ups, and when, before the week starts. Leads collected on a Thursday and actioned three weeks later are leads wasted, and everyone intends to do it faster than they do.
Bring your company to a global audience
Exhibit inside the U.S. Innovation Pavilion at GITEX GLOBAL 2026, 8–11 December 2026, Expo City Dubai.