Startup Weekend Dubai Highlights UAE’s Entrepreneurial Spirit

Nov. 21, 2011 - PRLog -- The first ever Startup Weekend Dubai held last month brought together more than 400 participants – entrepreneurs, designers, developers and startup enthusiasts, along with mentors from academia, government, industry and private business, and a panel distinguished judges. Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Startup Weekend Dubai highlighted the entrepreneurial spirit of Dubai as participants worked through the weekend to take their ideas from concept to prototype in only 54 hours.  

The Startup Weekend concept begun in 2007 in the United States. Since then, more than 200 Startup Weekends have been held around the world. The Dubai event (20-22 October) was the second in a trio of regional Startup Weekends, following Riyadh (12-14 October) and preceding Oman (16/18 November).

“Most events that happen in the region are for short term goals, or for an outcome that is not tangible,” said Deem Albassam, an organizer for Startup Weekend Dubai, who was intrigued by the results-driven format.  “Startup Weekend events do not focus on a marketing objective or only on inspiring people. The format lets people actually work on their idea, and see it become a reality.”

At Startup Weekend Dubai, participants presented more than 65 ideas – on stage, in front of the crowd. In addition to many young people, a good number of the presenters were UAE national females. After the idea pitches were complete, participants voted for the most promising ideas, choosing 21 to be the focus of the weekend.

Over Friday and part of Saturday, teams – many consisting of people who had never met before –  worked intensely, some even staying at the venue overnight to continue their progress. On Saturday afternoon, each team presented a prototype of their idea. The judges chose three winners including first place “Golazo,” a social website for football players to meet and schedule matches, second place “Giftastic,” which uses social media to help people select the perfect gift, and third place “Hassle Free,” a service that helps people and companies relocate within the UAE.

The winners received prizes of 25,000, 15,000 and 10,000 AED respectively. H.H. Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum presented the awards to the winning teams, and generously awarded all 21 teams one year incubation at Dubai SME, including free office space and funds for startup costs.

Mohammed Al Shamsi, leader of the winning team, has since seen his idea transform into a real business. “We've managed to get all the resources needed such as funding, incubation and help with legal requirements,” he said. “I have assembled a solid team to work on Golazo, and right now I am working closely with Web developers to transform all our ideas into a working website.”

Two other teams were recognized for “Most Innovative” and awarded $5,000 prizes by Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development. Innovation 360 presented six teams with $2000 in vouchers for business model design and innovation training.

Mohammad al Banna led the team for Rabbit Hole, a website to help budding fashion designers and one of the ideas recognized as most innovative.  “The Startup Weekend experience was truly one of a kind,” he expressed. “Spending 54 hours working on our business and actually launching it was something that really benefitted us. I would love to participate again and again.”

“Events such as Startup Weekend are very important for Dubai and the UAE,” said Mohammed Rizwan Shaikh, a mentor at the event. “It nurtures local talent, gives them a platform to demonstrate their ideas and secure funding, and most importantly provides a boost to the economy.”

Organizers hope the inaugural Startup Weekend Dubai is the first of many such events. “This was the beginning of a whole series of interesting and essential events for the entrepreneurial community,” said organizer Sara Falaknaz. “The success of this event has confirmed to us that this region is hungry for such events, and we will be bringing a variety of similar formats very soon.”

Visit http://www.swdubai.org/ and subscribe to receive information about upcoming Startup Weekend events in Dubai and the UAE.

About Startup Weekend

Startup Weekend is a global and non-profit organization founded in 2007 by Andrew Hyde and is based in Seattle, Washington, USA. Startup weekend is funded by the Kaufmann Foundation and their main target is to organize 54-hour weekend events globally. During these events groups of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more pitch ideas for new startup companies, form teams around those ideas, and work to develop a working prototype, demo, and/or presentation by Sunday evening. Startup Weekend has organized (as of December 2010) 207 events spanning 120 cities and 35 countries including  Lebanon,  Oman, Spain, Portugal, Russia, UK, Italy, Chile, Brazil, US, Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, and more.

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Innovation 360 Institute is an innovation management and operation advisory group that works with private and public entities to improve business growth and sustainability. Learn more at http://www.i360institute.com/about-us/