New Delhi, July 10 -- DUBAI - The first cohort of startups to use Founders HQ arrived with ideas and left with signed contracts. Twenty-three companies participated in Plug and Play's initial programme at the campus. Thirty-six proof-of-concept engagements with corporate partners were generated. Four of those converted into signed commercial agreements. Those are early numbers from a campus that has not yet run a full cycle, but they are the numbers Dubai is leading with as it opens what it describes as a physical front door for founders building companies at scale.

The campus sits at One Central in the Dubai World Trade Centre district and was launched by Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum last week. It operates under th...