Starting to scale

a glimpse into the rise of Uae’s start-Up cUltUre and ecosystem

Start-ups — if it isn’t from using apps like Careem and Deliveroo, e-commerce sites like Namshi or local city guides such as Insydo, you’ve heard the term in newspapers, over coffee-break chats, and on shows like Silicon Valley. It’s a buzzword that’s been popular for over a decade and one that’s increasingly heard around the UAE. As tech-centric solutions give birth to emerging markets and disruptive trends, start-ups — or rather, their services and offerings — become a part of everyday living, especially among city-dwellers for whom digital adoption is often the norm.

Start-ups aren’t always driven by technology, though, and neither are they just a millennial fad. If you think about it, entrepreneurship is nothing new and organisations that were founded on ‘one man’s vision’ have been around, well, ever since the entrepreneurial spirit has been. So, then, what exactly is a ‘start-up’ and how did the term gain relevance?

While there is no fixed definition, there are a few key factors that distinguish a start-up from any budding business or SME (small and medium-sized enterprise). A start-up is a new organisation comprising founders, and possibly a few other members, who are driven to build an innovative offering that they strongly believe will disrupt the current market or help create a new one. In order to do so, a start-up aims to be scalable, eventually end its development phase, and adopt a more structured business model. In the early stages, a start-up is focused on testing and marketing its idea, and depends heavily on funding (which includes various rounds, from pre-seed to series A, B, C, and so on) — this usually comes from a combination of personal revenue sources (also known as ‘bootstrapping’), angel investors, and VCs (venture capitalists). Generally speaking, within three to five years — as the business increases employee count, opens more office locations, and generates a steady income stream — a start-up stops being considered a start-up.

The ‘dot com’ boom of the late ’90s and early 2000s brought about a proliferation of Internet-based companies and generated a lot of interest among investors. It was during this period that the term ‘start-up’ began to make the rounds — and it stuck, as many of the young companies of that era became hugely successful. Start-ups, as we know them today, and their general association with technology, go even further back, though — to the launch and rise of companies like IBM, Microsoft, and Apple.

Setting up a business from home or renting out a space with an open floor plan, working on MacBooks, drinking unlimited cups of French Press coffee, playing table tennis or brainstorming on beanbags, and dressing in hipster casuals — there isn’t a shortage of stereotypes associated with start-ups; while none are a given, there certainly is a prevalent culture that surrounds start-ups. They are typically young, fast-paced, and relentless in their pursuit of a shared vision.

As start-ups populate a particular region, they bring diversity to the traditional work culture and business frameworks. And, when a region becomes more receptive to emerging businesses, it develops an ecosystem that supports start-ups. In line with the Expo 2020 vision, the UAE is keen to bring in new businesses and encourage the growth of start-ups. As a young country with a progressive economy, excellent infrastructure, and minimal tax laws, the UAE is an attractive option for up-andcoming entrepreneurs looking to set up shop. Free zones now offer packages for easy business set up, inclusive of immigration processes and legal services.

Over the past five years alone, there’s been an increase in the number of accelerators, incubators, and coworking spaces — some government-run — that have sprung up around Dubai and Abu Dhabi. These include AstroLabs, Dubai Future Accelerators, The Cribb Coworking Spaces, and NEST Coworking Space. Such hubs are crucial to many entrepreneurs, who are in need of office utilities, mentors, business growth strategies, and opportunities to connect with and pitch to top investors.

From online portals (think MAGNiTT) and programmes, events, conferences, and competitions (such as AIM Startup) for upcoming enterprises to award ceremonies for the year’s best start-ups (for example, the Arabian Business StartUp Awards), the UAE currently offers the most impressive startup ecosystem in the MENA region. In fact, UAE-based enterprises secured 84 per cent of the capital raised by regional start-ups in 2017, according to the MENA Annual Venture Report. E-commerce start-ups lead the pack here, but nearly every industry in the UAE — travel, technology, fintech, healthcare, and education — has new players offering customers transformative solutions.

And, if forecasts are anything to go by, the UAE is poised to be home to many more recognised start-ups in the coming months.

Dubai is an emerging tech hub full of distributive ideas. I have worked with multiple startups and found myself surrounded by many techdriven innovators. When you are working with such creative people from different backgrounds, you get a chance to come up with great ideas and sculpt them into greater products. As a techie, this has been one the greatest benefits of working in Dubai.

Mohamed Gawish, iOS developer, Tajawal

My biggest challenge as an entrepreneur was setting out at 19 from my living room, right out of university, at a time when not many of my peers were starting or running companies. All the learning came day by day as I worked to build my marketing and events company. I wish I would’ve known then what I know now. Back then, knowledge on running a business at my age wasn’t freely available here, so I had to travel to various conferences to meet like-minded people of my age, who’d launched start-ups and built successful companies — learning from their experience was brilliant. I eventually looked for mentors to guide me and keep me accountable. I have made all the mistakes you can think of and have learnt loads — more than any formal education could teach me.

Shenin Hamid, CEO and founder, Inspire Group ME

Although our idea was quite rough when we entered (an early-stage start-up competition), we had access to amazing mentors, who helped to refine our service and guide us in the right direction, that helped us get seed funding to take our project off the ground. There are a lot of brilliant resources available to start-ups in the UAE — for instance, the Youth Hub at Emirates Towers. There’s access to valuable mentors, and many of incubators and accelerators make this country the ideal spot for budding start-ups. Going forward, we are doing a proof of concept with a major brand in the region before a full roll out.

Teja Verma, co-founder of an upcoming travel-centric start-up