Latest news with #H1 2025
Arabian Business
7 days ago
- Business
- Arabian Business
Dubai and Abu Dhabi office markets boom as record sales and new developments reshape skylines in 2025
Dubai and Abu Dhabi are experiencing a surge in office market activity, with record sales, soaring rents and a wave of new developments set to transform both cities' commercial skylines, according to Knight Frank's H1 2025 Office Market Review. In Dubai, 83 office transactions worth more than AED10m ($2.72m) were completed in the first half of 2025 — a 207 per cent jump from the 27 deals recorded in the same period last year. Downtown led the market, with average prices surpassing AED 5,000 ($1,361) per square foot, while Business Bay crossed the AED 2,000 ($544) per square foott mark for the first time, after 21.2 per cent growth since 2020. Dubai office demand Off-plan office sales, concentrated mainly in Business Bay, are on the rise. The submarket is set to deliver more than 1.3 million sqft through this model, reflecting investor confidence in Dubai's prime financial hubs. DIFC remains the costliest office location in the city, averaging AED 400 ($109) per square foot for fitted offices, while robust rental growth is also being seen in The Greens (AED260/$71psf), Dubai Design District (AED 280/$76psf) and Business Bay (AED251/$68psf). Demand is being driven by the business services sector (38 per cent of total), followed by tech (31 per cent), real estate (12 per cent) and banking and finance (10 per cent). Faisal Durrani, Partner – Head of Research, Knight Frank MENA, said: 'Confidence in Dubai as a global business hub remains exceptionally strong. Indeed, this is reflected in record low vacancy rates for Grade A stock across the city, which stands in sharp contrast to many other global gateway cities. 'The technology and trading systems sector has emerged as major driver of demand, while sustained activity from financial, real estate and business consulting firms underscores the city's appeal to a diverse range of global occupiers. 'Developers are moving quickly to capitalise on current demand, with a further 25.2 million square feet expected by 2030, when we forecast the total office stock in the city to approach 148 million square feet. 'The confidence in the office sector is further evidenced by the boom in high-value transactions, with the number of office sales over AED 10 million setting a record of 83 sales in H1 2025.' The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) recorded its busiest ever first half for new company registrations since opening in 2004, with 1,081 new businesses joining between January and June, bringing the total to 7,700. Knight Frank forecasts Dubai's total gross leasable area will reach 137.8 million sqft by 2030, with 15.8 million sqft in new supply. DIFC will add more than 7 million sqft of build-to-rent office space by 2030, while Business Bay will see strong build-to-sell activity, much of it sold off-plan before completion. Abu Dhabi office demand In the UAE capital, office demand reached over 5 million sqft in H1 2025, up 110 per cent year-on-year. Business services accounted for 32 per cent of demand, followed by government entities (9 per cent). Durrani said: 'New rental contracts in Abu Dhabi have been a primary driver of market activity this year, with transaction volumes experiencing a significant peak in January, signalling fresh demand and business expansion in the UAE capital. 'Mirroring Dubai, with occupancy levels at record highs across grade-A stock, limited availability is driving up rents for best-in-class space'. Musaffah led rental growth in Q2 2025 with a 73 per cent quarter-on-quarter rise, followed by Al Bateen (68 per cent) and Al Hisn (19 per cent). Some older districts such as Al Danah (-2 per cent) and Al Nahyan (-7 per cent) saw slight declines due to higher concentrations of secondary stock. James Hodgetts, Partner – Occupier Strategy & Solutions, MEA, said: 'There is good news on the horizon, with a strong pipeline of high-quality developments poised to be welcome additions to the Abu Dhabi office market. 'This new supply is likely to help ease current constraints, offering occupiers greater choice and setting new benchmarks for quality, sustainability and design.' New completions are set to ease supply pressure, including Aldar's HB Tower on Yas Island (238,647 sqft) and the Saas Business Tower on Al Reem Island (129,210 sqft). Shehzad Jamal, Partner – Strategy and Consultancy, MENA, said: 'Demand is expected to remain robust and will likely continue to outpace the delivery of new premium supply for the remainder of the year, fuelling further rental growth in the prime segment across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. 'Pre-leasing activity for the landmark projects scheduled for 2026-2028 will be a key indicator of market sentiment. We expect the performance gap between grade-A, well-located assets and older, secondary stock to widen further as the flight-to-quality trend intensifies in the short-term.'
Yahoo
11-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NTG Nordic Transport Group publishes interim report for H1 2025
Company announcement no. 9 – 25 11 August 2025 NTG Nordic Transport Group publishes interim report for H1 2025 The interim report for H1 2025 is enclosed. In connection with publication of the results for H1 2025, a conference call will be hosted on 12 August 2025 at 10:00 AM CEST. The conference call will be held in English and can be followed live via NTG's website; Additional information For additional information, please contact: Investor relations and press:Sebastian Rosborg,Head of Investor Relations +45 42 12 80 99 ir@ Attachments NTG Interim Report H1 2025 Attachments Company announcement no. 9 2025 NTG Interim Report H1 2025Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Entrepreneur
30-06-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Early-Stage Funding Dips, but Optimism Grows in India's Maturing Startup Ecosystem
Only two unicorns emerged in H1 2025, a 33% decline from three unicorns in H1 2024. Does the lack of early-stage funding mean fewer unicorns? Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. The road towards a USD 7 trillion economy by 2030 does not seem too difficult for India, given how the Indian startup ecosystem has drastically transformed the face of the Indian economy. Behind flourishing startups, there are two important pillars, one is innovative ideas that cater to Indian needs, and the other is the capital that enables these ideas to reach the market. However, in the first half of 2025, we have seen turbulence in the funding ecosystem. According to Tracxn's recent report, India's tech startup ecosystem raised USD 4.8 billion, a 25 per cent decline from H1 2024 and a 19 per cent drop from H2 2024. Why is the market witnessing such a deep dip in funding? Overall dip in funding Seed-stage funding declined to USD 452 million, a 23 per cent fall from USD 584 million in H2 2024 and 44 per cent lower than USD 802 million in H1 2024. Early-stage startups raised USD 1.6 billion, a decrease of 6 per cent from USD 1.7 billion in H2 2024, and down 16 per cent compared to USD 1.9 billion in H1 2024. Meanwhile, late-stage funding stood at USD 2.7 billion, marking a 25 per cent decline from USD 3.6 billion in H2 2024 and a 27 per cent drop compared to USD 3.7 billion in H1 2024. But for Brijesh Damodaran Nair, Managing Partner, Auxano Capital, this decline is a sign of maturity in the startup space. "The sharp decline in seed and early-stage funding reflects maturity in the space. The VCs and the ecosystem are becoming more selective, preferring to deploy dry powder into scale-ups with clearer paths to profitability and with adherence to governance and data-backed numbers," says Nair. However, Arjun Malhotra, General Partner, Good Capital, believes that the market is flooded with similar ideas. "A big factor is the explosion of AI — it has unlocked a lot of new market opportunities, but it's also led to a flood of similar or overlapping ideas. Founders are often building in the same spaces, which makes it harder to differentiate. As a result, investors are taking more time to evaluate what will truly stand out and scale," notes Malhotra. He also adds that AI has made it possible to do more with fewer resources, so early-stage companies don't need as much capital upfront, which naturally slows the pace of early funding rounds. But Anil Joshi, Founder and Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures & VC Council member, IVCA, shares a different perspective. "The drop in seed and early-stage funding this year is more cyclical than structural. Several micro-VCs and early-stage funds have closed new rounds recently, but many are still in the process of deploying fresh capital. On the founder side, we're also seeing a shift. Some entrepreneurs are choosing to bootstrap longer to build stronger traction and negotiate better valuations. It's not that capital isn't available, but both investors and founders are being more deliberate. This temporary dip is likely to correct itself as new funds start deploying more actively in the coming quarters," Joshi says. Where have the unicorns gone? Additionally, the market has also seen a dip in unicorns. Only two unicorns emerged in H1 2025, a 33 per cent decline from three unicorns in H1 2024. Does the lack of early-stage funding mean fewer unicorns? "Not necessarily. If anything, we might actually see more startups emerge because it's easier and cheaper to build today, thanks to AI. What will be interesting is to see which companies break out, given how crowded certain use cases have become. Success will likely come down to who can execute better, move faster, and carve out a truly differentiated space. So while the unicorn count might slow in the short term, the overall startup ecosystem could actually get more dynamic," explains Malhotra. Adding to this, Joshi says, "A dip in early-stage funding doesn't automatically translate into fewer successful startups or unicorns down the line. Many founders are choosing to stay bootstrapped longer, focusing on product–market fit and customer growth before raising capital. This often helps them command better valuations when they do raise. While the overall pace of funding has slowed, we expect activity to pick up as more funds begin deploying capital. Predicting the number of unicorns is always tricky, but the pipeline of high-quality startups remains strong." Meanwhile, Abhishek Prasad, Managing Partner, Cornerstone Ventures, adds, "I don't think this will affect the number of unicorns or successful startups in the future, as it will only ensure lower failure rates. We are, in fact, moving into a more positive phase in India's VC industry, where more thematic investing will lead to much better outcomes and stronger realisation for investors in India's startup story." Logistics tech bucked the trend In an interesting development, Logistics Tech emerged as one of the leading sectors in terms of performance in H1 2025, alongside Transportation, Retail, and Enterprise Applications. The Transportation and Logistics Tech sector saw a strong recovery, raising USD 1.6 billion, a 104 per cent increase from USD 799.3 million in H2 2024 and a 54 per cent rise from USD 1.1 billion in H1 2024. What contributed to the growth in this sector? "Several elements contribute to the return of investor confidence in India's logistics sector. An important role has been played by government initiatives like the National Logistics Policy and the 2025–2026 Budget. These policies emphasise tax incentives, digitisation, and infrastructure development. Demand in manufacturing, retail, and e-commerce continues to grow. This has highlighted the need for technologically enabled automated supply chains that include sophisticated storage. As a result, investors are backing more companies offering scalable and complex logistics solutions. The recovery mirrors the strong long-term prospects of the industry and the vital role it plays in India's economic development," says Bir Singh, Co-founder, Addverb. On the other hand, Dhruvil Sanghvi, CEO & Founder, LogiNext, believes that inefficiencies continue to cost businesses 3–5 per cent of revenues annually. "Investors are now doubling down on platforms solving these inefficiencies at scale. What's changed is clarity. AI-powered logistics platforms are now proven to reduce delivery costs by 15–20 per cent, improve SLA adherence, and create operational visibility. In a capital-disciplined environment, that's a compelling value story." What will revive early-stage funding? For a prosperous startup ecosystem, early-stage funding remains a lever that brings the initial stage of a startup to market. So, what will revive early-stage funding? Joshi says, "India's macroeconomic outlook remains strong, and that's a good foundation. What the early-stage ecosystem needs now is greater momentum on exits—IPOs, secondary sales, and strategic acquisitions. These events bring confidence back into the market and encourage LPs to back new funds, which in turn fuels early-stage investing. We're already seeing signs of recovery, and with a few high-quality listings or successful exits, the sentiment could shift quickly." Sunil K Shekhawat, CEO of SanchiConnect, believes, "Expanding angel networks in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and activation of capital from SME/family office books will diversify deal flow. Additionally, strengthening incubators and DeepTech accelerators with dedicated commercialisation and investor-readiness programmes is essential." While concluding, Damodaran says, "To revive early-stage momentum, the ecosystem needs lower entry barriers for angel investors, swifter regulatory clearances, and more active participation from domestic institutional capital, along with adherence to governance requirements. More local success stories and stronger exits can definitely restore confidence and convince investors that backing early-stage tech in India is an opportunity not to miss."
Finextra
06-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
PitchBook: AI disruption rises, VC optimism cools in H1 2025
The latest PitchBook survey finds that venture capital investors are making "strategic adjustments as they navigate geopolitical uncertainty and technological transition." 0 This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community. 52% of VC investors are expecting major changes in the sector this year, up from 32% in late 2024, according to PitchBook's H1 2025 VC Tech Survey. The rise is driven by technologies such as automated underwriting and generative AI copilots. However, adoption hurdles remain, with nearly half of respondents citing unclear use cases, followed by skills shortages and high implementation costs. Regulatory concerns, meanwhile, have eased, falling from 55% to 39%. Despite macroeconomic uncertainty, fintech remains one of the top sectors for growth capital, attracting 38% of allocations. Still, investor caution is rising. 34% are scrutinising deals more closely, 44% are pausing investments for clarity, and 25% are pulling back from international opportunities amid renewed trade tensions. The broader fundraising outlook has cooled, with only 38% of respondents expecting a rise in VC funding this year, a decrease from 58% in H2 2024. Liquidity expectations are also more conservative, with fewer anticipating exit improvements. As AI capabilities mature and geopolitical risks reshape capital flows, fintech startups are under growing pressure to deliver clear value and defensible AI strategies to stand out in a more selective market.
