Prince Andrew encourages young Emirati entrepreneurs
Britain’s Duke of York in the capital to hear innovative business ideas
An indoor navigation system to find lost items and even guide the blind, and a device for training camels were among the inventions unveiled yesterday at a competition designed to give a greater profile to entrepreneurs.
Pitch at the Palace was brought to Abu Dhabi yesterday by Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, after a successful run at St James’s Palace in London.
The event at Emirates Palace got under way with entrepreneurs starting a two-day boot camp to improve their pitches to would-be investors and gain advice from experienced businesspeople.
Pitch at the Palace was co-organised with Khalifa Fund and contestants will present their final pitches in front of 500 people tomorrow evening.
Two winners will be chosen to participate in the Pitch at the Palace – also known as Pitch@Palace – before Queen Elizabeth in London on December 6.
Twelve Emirati entrepreneurs made their initial pitches to Andrew and the audience yesterday.
Mustafa Al Hashimi outlined his indoor navigation platform and mobile application, Innav, which he said was designed to help people trace their lost property.
He hopes it will have many applications, including guiding the visually impaired, and solving common problems such as finding your car.
“It is a nightmare when you park your car and you forget where it is ... and we feel we are going to lose our children one day,” he told the audience.
The mobile application works using a Google Maps-type display to suggest routes around a building. Users can also choose voice-guided navigation.
“The visually impaired could ask ‘where is the washroom’, and it would guide them there,” Mr Al Hashimi said.
Saeed Al Noufali’s project, Jamal-check, gives camel owners and trainers the opportunity to follow a camel’s performance through a mobile app. A tracker fitted to the camel records its speed and other attributes and shows a display, allowing the trainer to compare them.
“Imagine you have 10 camels and 10 profiles,” he said.
Andrew said that the concept “adds value to entrepreneurs by finding and developing mentors for innovative businesses”.
“I am a keen and regular visitor to the region and I have been keen to bring Pitch at the Palace to the Middle East, as I see synergies in our attitudes towards innovative businesses, especially with the young demographic of the region,” he said.
When asked why he chose the UAE to host the Middle East version of the competition, the prince said: “It is one of the most innovative places in the region, and also, Sheikh Mohammed is a great friend of mine.”
Moreover, those who participate will not only become successful in the UAE and the region, but also regionally and globally, “so to bring them into our global network,” he said.
Among the mentors to attend last year’s final at St James’s Palace was the internet pioneer Tim Berners Lee, businessman Peter Jones, and Dragon’s Den judge and triple-Michelin star chef Heston Blumenthal.
Andrew said that even those who were not selected for the finals had the chance to network and grow their business.
“I will make a request to the audience that every single one of them takes a follow-up action with every one of you,” he told contestants. “Bring with you a lot of cards to connect with the hundreds of people attending on Wednesday evening.”