The key facts

  • The Create Apps Championship 2026 received 9,754 entries from 153 countries — more than the first two editions combined
  • The winners were awarded on 7 October by Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at Emirates Towers Boulevard
  • Finalists and semi-finalists move into the six-month programme of Oraseya Capital — the venture arm of the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority

Young winner and the scale of the competition

13-year-old Ehsan Adwan, who has been interviewing scientists for his YouTube channel since the age of nine, beat thousands of participants from around the world and received the Best Youth-made App award for the app Ettan Ehsan. It turns homework into a game, breaking school subjects into short visual challenges. 'Now I want to help students like me make homework more fun, more dynamic and more gamified,' he said. According to him, the win provides money to develop the app and support from the Dubai government. The competition, launched in 2023 as a local contest, became open to the whole world from its second year: this season it received 9,754 entries — more than in the first two editions combined — from 153 countries. The winners were honoured on 7 October by Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at Emirates Towers Boulevard.

RUSH and LiaPay: social impact and fintech

The Most Impactful App award went to the app RUSH, which matches travellers with group trips based on shared interests. Its creator Agnieszka Kochnur spent almost 20 years designing retail spaces for beauty brands, and then left corporate work to fully dedicate herself to the project. 'This award matters because we live in a very fragmented world because of technology, but we found a way for technology to bring us together,' she noted. The Most Innovative App prize went to LiaPay — the company of Alan Villegas, a former entrepreneurship teacher from Mexico City who moved to Dubai for the launch. The service helps employees in the UAE receive their salary earlier than payday. 'The regulator is friendly, it understands or tries to understand innovation,' said Villegas.

Kwelio: a win despite perfectionism

The main prize, Dubai's App of the Year, went to the app POP by the Kwelio team, which helps users keep to their medication schedule. Co-founder and CEO Mohamed Al Rama admitted that the team's main enemy is perfectionism, so the deadlines they set became a salvation for the three co-founders. According to co-founder and CTO Sumi Mahmud, CreateApps mentors advised making the app calmer and turning it into a 'journaling experience', which is why the interface and user experience were completely reworked right during the competition. The team considers their pitch the best in history and now uses it at all meetings with investors and competitions.

The fates of past winners

For past laureates, the trophy was only the beginning. Takeem, the winner of the first edition, is working on trust in Dubai's rental market. 'The win gave what every early-stage startup needs — credibility. It opened doors to partnerships and investors,' said co-founder Rakesh Mawat. According to his data, the service covers more than 117,000 properties, corresponding to about AED 9 billion in annual rent that Takeem can protect. He also noted the 'real open-door policy' of regulators and officials. Last year's app of the year, Boom, which helps couriers find clients and set prices themselves, was, according to co-founder Mariam Mohammed Almarri, merely a project at the idea and prototype stage at the time of its win. This year's finalists and semi-finalists now enter the six-month programme of Oraseya Capital — the venture arm of the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority, which prepares young startups to meet investors.