Dubai Startup Hub launches Market Access programme

Dubai Startup Hub, an initiative of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has launched its new Market Access programme which aims to enhance cooperation and facilitate deals between innovative startups, SMEs, leading companies and government entities in Dubai.

The launch announcement was made during GITEX Technology Week 2017, where Dubai Startup Hub is exhibiting and showcasing the various benefits of participating in the Market Access programme. As part of the first-of-its-kind programme, startups and SMEs are invited to submit innovative ideas and solutions that solve key challenges faced by prominent companies and organisations in the emirate.

The programme will be open to startups and SMEs from around the world that will have until October 31, 2017 to submit their ideas.

Emirates NBD, Dubai Chamber, flydubai and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles are the four leading entities participating in first edition of the programme. Each entity will present projects or core challenges they are facing and seek innovative solutions from startups and SMEs that can be implemented within their organisations.

Selected startups and SMEs will get the opportunity to tailor their business ideas to meet specific needs, gain industry experience and take advantage of opportunities to market their solutions and products to prominent companies and organisations in Dubai.

Dubai Startup Hub and the Market Access programme align with Dubai Chamber’s to efforts nurture the emirate’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and foster a culture of innovation within the local business community, explains Essa Al Zaabi, senior vice-president, institutional support sector, Dubai Chamber and general coordinator of Tejar Dubai. He noted that the Market Access programme also aims to enhance Dubai’s competitiveness, and support the emirate’s vision to become a global innovation hub that attracts the most innovative startups and business ideas from around the world.

Last year, Dubai Chamber launched Dubai Startup Hub as an online platform to connect startups, entrepreneurs, developers, venture capitalists and students, enabling them to learn about new opportunities and create new partnerships that stimulate economic growth.