ITALIAN TRADE AGENCY
EARLIER THIS YEAR, ITA PARTNERED WITH DUBAI FUTURE FOUNDATION FOR A BILATERAL INCUBATION PROGRAMME. CAN YOU PROVIDE MORE DETAILS ABOUT IT?
Earlier this year, 11 Italian innovative startups were accelerated for two months at Area2071, the accelerator programme of Dubai Future Foundation. The collaboration supported the Italian companies with a better understanding of the
UAE market and best practices while gaining experience in the innovation and entrepreneurship sector. The programme represented a great experience for the 11 participating startups which led to one commercial partnership subscription and 10 pilot projects in the pipeline. The whole group also received UAE golden visas. Some of these startups were present at North Star Dubai (previously known as Gitex Future Stars) at Italy’s official pavilion to further enhance their commercial and strategic partnerships in the UAE.
CAN YOU ELABORATE ON THE MAIN TECHNOLOGIES THAT YOU SHOWCASED AT GITEX GLOBAL?
At the 2021 edition of the event, the Italian pavilion hosted 47 startups and innovative SMEs. Amongst the Italian expertise showcased there were innovative solutions for challenges relating to blockchain, healthcare, smart cities, mobility and augmented reality.
LASTLY, WHAT WERE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FROM GITEX GLOBAL, AND WHAT DID YOU ACHIEVE FROM THE SHOW?
The Italian pavilion more than doubled in terms of number of participants (comapred to 2020), showing that Italy is ready to do business again. In addition, participating in North Star Dubai showed the strength and commitment of Italy’s startup sector to explore partnerships and share knowledge with their peers and to explore more significant opportunities for growth in the world’s largest tech event of the year.