Abu Dhabi’s sports and entertainment start-up scene took centre stage on Thursday, 5 November, as The Ethara 1TW Innovation Hub (E1H) held its third E1H Pitch at Yas Conference Centre, Yas Marina Circuit.
Seven founders presented to investors, industry leaders and decision makers from across sport, entertainment, media and government. Four of them are women.
With Cohort 3, E1H has now supported 20 start-ups since launching in 2025. The region’s first dedicated sports ecosystem and incubator is a joint initiative between Ethara and sports investment firm ONETOWATCH. It fast-tracks sports and entertainment entrepreneurs through access, commerce and capital.
The women leading the way
- Tanya Gordon, DIME Consulting: A business psychologist and executive coach whose clients have included HSBC, PwC, Arsenal and the England and Wales Cricket Board. DIME combines business psychology, elite-performance science and coaching to help leaders and commercial teams perform in high-stakes moments.
- Mariaucris Pirela Figueroa, FitCalendar: A UX designer and certified personal trainer behind the UAE’s central calendar for fitness events, where users can find sessions, competitions, trips and festivals in one place.
- Bubs Felix, ShePlayz: A former sports rights lawyer, with media roles at FIFA and ITV, now running a digital-first women’s sports media ecosystem with more than 111,000 YouTube subscribers.
- Hind Sergieh, Arkub: The founder behind VR Sports at Dubai Mall, the UAE’s first all-sports virtual reality arcade, launched with Emaar Entertainment in 2018. Arkub designs immersive attractions that turn venues into year-round destinations.
Completing the cohort
- Amr El-Beheiry, Fanzword: A sports gaming and ad-tech platform that connects brands with young sports fans through gamified competitions and consumer surveys. It has more than 1 million registered users.
- Norbert Rubicsek, MintaMark: A former police lieutenant colonel with 14 years’ experience fighting corruption in sport. His AI-assisted platform uses tracking data to flag unusual on-field behaviour for expert review.
- Ahmad Hilal and Ahmad Al-Ashqar, The Stadium Gaming: Their Stad platform turns EA SPORTS FC gaming into ranked competition with real-world football prizes. It reached 60,000 downloads in Jordan within six months and is now scaling across MENA.
What they said
Guillaume Dufond, Strategic Development Executive Director at Ethara, said: “Cohort 3 shows the breadth of ambition now coming through E1H, from fitness to sports gaming, women’s sports media and immersive entertainment. These founders are creating new experiences for fans and new solutions for the industry, and that is exactly what we set out to support at Ethara. With 20 start-ups now through the programme, and earlier founders building partnerships and giving back to those who follow, E1H continues to help position Abu Dhabi as a hub for innovation in sport, entertainment and live experiences.”
Jamie Cunningham, Founder of ONETOWATCH, added: “We are grateful for the continued support of Ethara and our partners City Football Group, IMI, OVG Middle East and the Creative Media Authority. Together, we are committed to giving ambitious sports and entertainment entrepreneurs access to the industry, commercial opportunities and the capital needed to accelerate their business.”
The alumni effect
Earlier cohorts are building momentum too. Robox (formerly Icosium) from Cohort 1 is now part of Hub71 and attracting new business and investors. Fellow Cohort 1 start-up Athlyn is making great progress following a proof-of-concept partnership with Ethara, while VIAI Technologies from Cohort 2 has recently signed a partnership with M42.
The Mettleset, also from Cohort 1 and the region’s first women’s sports media platform, has launched a new production vertical, Mettleset Studios. It produces E1H’s own podcast, The Sports & Entertainment Entrepreneurs Podcast, which was conceived in the first cohort and is hosted by E1H co-founder Jamie Cunningham. Since launching in October, the show has reached No. 2 in the Entrepreneurship category of the UAE Apple Podcasts charts, with guests including Two Circles founder Gareth Balch, HYROX co-founder Moritz Fürste, Coventry City FC owner Doug King and PFL founder Donn Davis.
Hosted by broadcaster Katie Overy, the morning also introduced Brett Lashbrook as E1H’s new Programme Director.
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