Startup Valley Pitch and Networking Night December 2026

Startup Valley Pitch and Networking Night December 2026 brings founders and investors together in Dubai on Tuesday 8 December, from 6pm to 9pm at MAKTABI Business Center on the 18th floor of Sheikh Rashid Tower, Dubai World Trade Centre. Run by Startup Valley, the evening combines structured networking with a live session in which four to six pre-selected founders pitch to the room.

The running order

Startup Valley publishes a tight three-hour agenda:

• 6:00pm to 6:30pm: registration, badges and casual networking
• 6:30pm to 7:00pm: welcome from the organisers, followed by interactive networking
• 7:00pm to 7:50pm: the startup pitch session
• 7:50pm to 9:00pm: open networking over refreshments

Putting networking on both sides of the pitches is deliberate. You meet people before you have heard anyone present, then have more than an hour afterwards to follow up with the founders whose ideas caught your attention.

How the pitches work

Each of the four to six founders on stage is chosen in advance. They get five minutes to cover their idea, business model, target market and investment ask, and then take questions from the floor. For everyone watching, that means hearing several very different early-stage businesses explained in under an hour, each one tested by questions from investors and fellow founders in the room. The organisers mention a panel of investors and experts, although no judges or named speakers have been announced for this date.

Founders who want one of the slots apply with a pitch application form and a pitch deck. Startup Valley provides a pitching guide and offers optional coaching, which makes the evening a useful rehearsal for anyone preparing for a funding round, as well as a chance to get in front of potential backers.

Who is in the room

The audience Startup Valley describes is broad but focused on early-stage business:

• founders and would-be founders
• angel investors, VC partners and venture scouts
• operators, engineers and AI specialists
• marketers, salespeople and business advisers
• entrepreneurs visiting from Europe, Asia and the UK

Investors have their own route in. Complimentary investor tickets are offered to institutional investors, angels and venture scouts with a proven track record, subject to approval, and are requested through the investor form or by email. Investors who want access to Startup Valley’s startup database, or who would like to mentor founders, apply through the same investor form.

About Startup Valley

Startup Valley is a global organiser of pitch nights that says it has run events in 25 cities since 2023. It reports 850 events and 40,000 attendees to date, along with partnerships with venture capital funds in the US, Europe and Asia.

Tickets and practical details

Tickets are booked through Startup Valley’s Luma page. Options include Standard entry, the investor ticket, a ticket for founders pitching at the event and event sponsorship, and early bird tiers have been released in limited numbers. The dress code is smart casual, which suits an after-work crowd coming straight from offices across central Dubai on a Tuesday evening.

Refunds are available if you request one at least one day before the start time, either through the ticketing platform or by emailing the organisers. MAKTABI Business Center is inside Sheikh Rashid Tower at Dubai World Trade Centre, next to World Trade Centre Metro Station on the Red Line, so it is easy to reach after work from DIFC, Downtown or Business Bay.

Discover more business networking events in the UAE, see what else is on in Dubai and the full list of things to do in December, or try the earlier BCCD Breakfast Networking on 17 November for a more traditional chamber format.