Reflect Festival, a technology and startup event connecting Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, has announced a strategic collaboration with the Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus (Dtec). This partnership aims to enhance cooperation between innovation ecosystems and support initiatives that foster entrepreneurship, emerging technologies, and the creative economy across these regions.
Reflect Festival, held annually in Limassol, Cyprus, serves as a key platform linking startups, investors, and venture capital from CEE, the Middle East, and Africa. The collaboration with Dtec—an innovation hub situated within Dubai Silicon Oasis, a government-backed tech district—represents an effort to create a sustainable bridge between two dynamic startup ecosystems.
For CEE startups, this partnership offers increased access to Middle Eastern investors, markets, and innovation programs. It also opens pathways to joint projects, knowledge exchange, and ecosystem development, potentially accelerating their international growth.
“Since 2018, Reflect Festival has become a unique platform that has helped create hundreds of partnerships between tech leaders, startups, and investors across three key regions – Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. All of this has been possible in Limassol, the place that symbolically sits between them,” said Stylianos Lambrou, co-founder of Reflect Festival and The Doers Company.
“Year after year, we’re also seeing growing interest from investors and VC funds from the Middle East, as they increase their support of and capital provided to startups. This new collaboration with Dubai will allow us to co-create meaningful initiatives focused on relationship-building, emerging technologies, thought leadership, and ecosystem development – engaging top talent across both public and private sectors.”
The partnership framework includes knowledge-sharing programs, innovation campaigns, ecosystem roundtables, and dialogues involving startups, corporates, investors, and public authorities. Both sides plan to jointly develop long-term initiatives, positioning Reflect Festival and Dtec as complementary innovation hubs.
“Dubai Silicon Oasis is designed as a future-ready district to accelerate innovation, collaboration, and cross-border business. This collaboration reflects our ongoing commitment to positioning Dubai as a global destination for talent, capital, and transformative ideas,” said Dr. Juma Al Matrooshi, Director General of Dubai Silicon Oasis. “It also aligns with our broader vision to attract high-impact ventures and global innovation leaders to Dubai. By bridging ecosystems between Europe and the Middle East, we are strengthening our position as a hub for future industries and entrepreneurial growth.”
The collaboration will also explore ways to showcase emerging technologies and support the creative industries through curated content, storytelling, and thought leadership.
This partnership aligns with Dubai’s strategic goals under the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 and the Dubai Urban Master Plan 2040 to establish the city as a global hub for knowledge, innovation, and sustainable economic development.
