The growth path

Regional economies are offering enabling ecosystems for startups, championing innovation and growth, finds Zainab Mansoor

The GCC’s startup ecosystem is rapidly maturing, backed by supportive regulatory frameworks, private-public sector collaborations and incubator programmes. The UAE, in particular, has taken substantial steps to offer a fertile ground for local and foreign talent to set up shop.

Among a series of local initiatives undertaken recently was the launch of an integrated digital platform, Dubai Next, to allow youth innovators and entrepreneurs of any nationality to secure funding to launch their projects in Dubai. The platform offers crowdfunding solutions and is being considered as an ideal option for students and innovators to present their projects to potential investors.

Last month, Dubai’s Intelak Hub, a startup platform dedicated to the travel, tourism and aviation sectors, and sponsored by principal partners Emirates Group, Dubai Tourism, Accenture and Microsoft, opened registrations for local, regional and international startups to apply for its cohorts of programmes. Meanwhile, 10 technology startups graduated from this year’s Techstars Hub71 accelerator programme in Abu Dhabi, with participating startups hoping to secure a whopping $15m in funding.

Across the GCC, such strong initiatives have helped the region gain global traction as well. The UAE ranked 25th globally and second in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region for its startup ecosystem, according to StartupBlink’s Global Startup Ecosystem Index Report 2021, which ranks the top 100 countries and 1,000 cities worldwide. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia held the seventh and 10th spots respectively within the MEA region.

Meanwhile, Dubai jumped 32 spots from 99 to rank 67 globally within the city rankings in 2021, and is now the third highest ranked city in the MEA region. Dubai also ranks among the top 50 globally for software and data.

“As a leader in the Arab region, the UAE’s startups are growing fast. With a high concentration of technological innovation, Dubai is the strongest ecosystem hub city in the Arab world and a popular relocation destination among Arab entrepreneurs from all over the Middle East who are scaling their startups. Abu Dhabi is also becoming an accomplished and successful startup ecosystem hub and is home to multiple accelerators and incubators as well as a very large local market,” the report read.

Meanwhile, Bahrain provides many benefits for founders who want to establish a startup, including complete foreign ownership, zero taxes, and an attractive regulatory environment, it added.

With strong backing from regional governments and promising incentives underway, the regional startup landscape looks set to soar.