Opening, Closing, and Presentations of 6 Startups in the Crimson Founders 2025 Cohort in the UAE
Recordings of Crimson Founders Demo Session at the Future 100 Forum at Investopia 2025 in Abu Dhabi
Recordings
Opening | 6 Presentations | Closing & Award Ceremony
About
Crimson Founders was honored to host a curated Demo Session at the Future 100 Forum during Investopia 2025, held at the St. Regis Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi, on February 26th, 2025. This exclusive session featured six exceptional MIT and Harvard-affiliated startups, each selected for their groundbreaking innovations and relevance to the MENA region. The event brought together top investors, government leaders, and ecosystem partners to witness cutting-edge pitches across sectors, including AI, energy, biotech, blockchain, and deep tech. Alongside the startup demos, the program included opening remarks, a live awards ceremony, and networking with some of the most influential stakeholders in the regional innovation landscape.
Two standout startups were recognized with special awards:
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Most Innovative Tech Startup: HexemBio
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Most Relevant Tech for the MENA Region: Spectrohm
This initiative was made possible through the generous support of our partners: the UAE Ministry of Economy, Investopia, and the Future 100 team.
Judges
The winners of the session were selected by a distinguished panel of judges, each bringing deep expertise in venture capital, MENA ecosystem building, and strategic innovation:
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Belal Jassoma | Director of Ecosystems, DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre)
An innovation leader helping global startups scale in Dubai’s premier free zone and AI Centre. -
Christos Mastoras | Founder & Managing Partner, Iliad Partners
A seasoned VC with a focus on MENA-based and global tech ventures, bridging international capital with regional opportunities. -
Medea Nocentini | Co-Founder & General Partner, Global Ventures
A recognized investor and operator with a focus on impact-driven startups in emerging markets.
Crimson Founders
The Founders Network for the MIT & Harvard Communities
Crimson Founders is a global platform dedicated to connecting startups led by MIT and Harvard entrepreneurs with investors, industry leaders, innovation ecosystems, and government initiatives. Through curated demo days, venture programs, info sessions, and select networking events, we foster innovation, facilitate meaningful connections, and support startups in scaling their ventures.
We work with startups where at least one founder is a student, graduate, professor, or postdoc of MIT or Harvard. Acting as a catalyst and facilitator, Crimson Founders provides strategic consulting, investor and industry-specific networking sessions, and impactful introductions that drive fundraising and partnerships. With a deep commitment to empowering founders, Crimson Founders is building a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem and community where the world’s most promising startups can thrive—both regionally and globally.
Founders: Anoosheh Kalantari, Cristina Dolan, Sam Heuck
Email: founder@crimsonfounders.com
Amplified Industries
Your Oilfield Revolution Starts Here
Amplified Industries revolutionizes oil and gas operations by bringing Industry 4.0 to the field. Its breakthrough high-bandwidth cloud platform combines cutting-edge AI with deep physics expertise to transform production operations. Through advanced telecom technology, it captures massive real-time data streams from wells and facilities, enabling truly intelligent operations. Operators can now manage their assets with unprecedented efficiency and environmental responsibility, thanks to its seamless IoT solution that integrates effortlessly with existing infrastructure.
Email: info@amplified.industries
Applied AI
The World's Most Boring AI Company
AppliedAI is an enterprise technology company based in the UAE. Founded in 2021 in London by Arya H. Bolurfrushan, it moved its headquarters to Abu Dhabi in 2022 and has grown to over 100 staff across engineering, product, quality, and support. AppliedAI has raised over $40 million from institutional investors, including G42, Bessemer Venture Partners, Plug and Play, ARM Holdings, McKinsey, Metalab, and Palantir.
Its AI platform, Opus (Opus.com), enhances productivity and decision-making in healthcare, insurance, finance, life sciences, and government. Opus replaces manual Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) with AI-driven workflows, ensuring expert human review at critical points. AppliedAI believes AI + Human Experts provide the best balance of cost, productivity, and trust. Opus is pioneering a Human Expert Cloud, creating a decentralized marketplace for freelance knowledge workers to handle time-sensitive, high-stakes tasks.
Founders: Arya H. Bolurfrushan
Email: new@aaico.com
Helix Cabon
Disrupting the Materials Economy by Transforming Waste CO2 into Value
Helix Carbon produces electrolyzers with dramatically improved system lifetimes to convert point-source carbon dioxide into useful chemicals. Its novel catalyst coating techniques enable stability in mixed gas streams and conversion even at low CO₂ concentrations, eliminating the need for separate carbon capture in many applications. Coupled with its ability to adjust the ratio of carbon monoxide and hydrogen produced, Helix Carbon provides drop-in, carbon-neutral reducing gases to decarbonize the iron industry.
Founders: David Brown, Evan Haas, Dr. Ariel Furst
Email: david@helixcarbon.co
HexemBio
Reversing Aging With Advanced Stem Cell Therapy
Winner of The Most Innovative Tech
HeXem Bio, a leading longevity biotechnology firm, has developed the world's first rejuvenated hematopoietic stem cell therapy. This groundbreaking approach leverages synthetic biology technology to reverse aging in blood stem cells, enhancing immune function and extending healthy lifespans without genetic modification. Published in prestigious journals such as Nature and featured in the New York Times and on NASDAQ, its technology has completed preclinical animal studies and secured Orphan Designation for its first IND.
Co-founder Samira Kiani recently received the U.S. Presidential Award for this innovative work. HeXem Bio's expert team includes two MDs and two PhDs from MIT and UC Berkeley, second-time founders, and Y Combinator alumni. The company is backed by renowned investors, including Draper VC, SOSV, Venture Science, and Schox.
Email: gabriel.t@hexemb.io
ML Tech
Building the Future of Financial Services
ML Tech is a digital assets investment platform that uniquely provides optimized blended portfolios and bespoke products tailored to meet diverse investment objectives and risk appetites. Investors gain access to a curated array of delta-neutral, market-neutral, and beta trading strategies via the ML Tech platform.
ML Tech offers comprehensive solutions that bridge the gap between institutional investors and unique alpha opportunities available exclusively in digital asset markets. Its team brings decades of proven experience in high-frequency trading (HFT) and quantitative trading, successfully creating and deploying digital asset trading strategies with optimized execution and exchange connectivity.
Founders: Leo Mindyuk, Markus Leballeux
Email: marketing@mltech.ai
Spectrohm
Inspect at the Speed of Commerce
Winner of The Most Relevant Tech for the UAE & MENA Region
Spectrohm develops high-speed, high-throughput internal inspection systems for small bags, packages, and personal property. Current human-centric tools inspect only 3% of the 400 billion bags and packages that move each year, resulting in $100 billion in losses due to fraud, errors, hazards, and threats.
Spectrohm’s patented technology identifies hidden contents within bags and boxes, enabling an automated future where 100% of items are inspected. The company has received over $5 million in U.S. government support to enhance the inspection of international eCommerce and air cargo.
Founders: Tim Cargol, Leo Ludwick
Email: techinfo@spectrohm.com
WHY VOLASO
A Different Approach, Using a New Method of Manufacturing