Mastercard Selects Six AI Startups for First UAE Lighthouse Cohort
The UAE’s AI startup market is moving beyond experimentation and into structured financial services applications. Six startups have been selected for the first Mastercard Lighthouse UAE cohort, giving them access to a four-month programme focused on mentorship and international growth.
The six companies were chosen from 14 finalists. Their products cover loyalty, banking automation, AI infrastructure, financial risk, investment management, and multilingual AI.
Why Does This Matter?
AI adoption in financial services depends on more than technology. Banks and other regulated institutions also need secure systems, reliable data, and solutions that can operate within regulatory frameworks.
That creates a specific opportunity for startups building AI for financial and government use. Moreover, the selected companies are targeting areas where automation can affect credit decisions, fraud detection, banking operations, and investment management.
The programme is backed by the UAE Artificial Intelligence Office and Mastercard’s Center for Advanced AI and Cyber Technology in Dubai. Therefore, the cohort also gives participating startups access to industry expertise alongside their technology development.
The six selected companies are:
| Startup | Focus |
|---|---|
| Loyyal | AI and blockchain-powered loyalty platform for banks, airlines and retailers |
| NewForm Technologies | FinAI Studio, an agentic AI platform that automates banking operations for regulated institutions |
| NodeShift | Secure access to leading AI models, with data anonymised before processing |
| Polynome | Multilingual agentic AI for banks, government and aviation in Arabic and English |
| Valura.AI | AI investment platform covering onboarding through portfolio rebalancing, licensed in the UAE and India |
| zypl.ai | AI risk management using synthetic data for credit scoring and fraud detection across 20+ markets |
What Happens Next?
The selected startups will enter a four-month mentorship programme with Mastercard’s global experts. The programme will conclude with a Demo Day, during which participating companies can present their solutions and progress in development. However, the significance extends beyond the six companies. Mastercard has operated its Lighthouse programme globally since 2018, beginning in the Nordic and Baltic regions before expanding to Türkiye and the UAE. The global programme reports more than 300 collaborations, over $1.3 billion in investments, and 228 alums. Several alums have subsequently reached unicorn status.
For the UAE, the programme adds another structured pathway for AI startups seeking to develop financial services applications and expand internationally. The selected companies also reflect where AI adoption could have a practical impact. Banking operations, credit assessment, fraud detection, investment management, and customer loyalty all involve large amounts of data and repeatable processes.
Moreover, multilingual AI could be particularly relevant in the UAE, where financial institutions and government entities serve diverse populations while operating in an increasingly digital economy.
The programme, therefore, places the startups at the intersection of AI development and regulated financial services. Its longer-term value will depend on whether the participating companies can turn mentorship, industry access, and technical development into commercial deployments. The next milestone will be the Demo Day. That event should provide a clearer indication of which solutions are ready to move from an accelerator environment into wider financial and institutional adoption.