{"id":11047,"date":"2021-05-24T09:05:29","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T09:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fincasacapital.com\/?p=11047"},"modified":"2022-06-21T09:33:55","modified_gmt":"2022-06-21T09:33:55","slug":"uaes-early-stage-start-ups-get-boost-with-new-funding-mentoring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fincasacapital.com\/uaes-early-stage-start-ups-get-boost-with-new-funding-mentoring\/","title":{"rendered":"UAE\u2019s early stage start-ups get boost with new funding, mentoring"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<strong>Dubai-based Fincasa and IMT Business School ink agreement to mentor and fund the country\u2019s budding entrepreneurs<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text]<style>.ld_fancy_heading_661410fcd56c8 p{color:rgb(51, 51, 51);}.ld_fancy_heading_661410fcd56c8 p {margin-bottom:1em !important;  } @media (min-width: 992px) { .ld_fancy_heading_661410fcd56c8 p {margin-bottom:1.5em !important;  }  } .ld_fancy_heading_661410fcd56c8 .lqd-highlight-inner{height:0.275em!important;bottom:0px!important;}.ld_fancy_heading_661410fcd56c8 p {margin-bottom:1em !important;  } @media (min-width: 992px) { .ld_fancy_heading_661410fcd56c8 p {margin-bottom:1.5em !important;  }  } <\/style><div class=\"ld-fancy-heading ld_fancy_heading_661410fcd56c8\">\n\t<p class=\"ld-fh-element lqd-highlight-underline lqd-highlight-grow-left text-decoration-default h3\"   >  \u201cIn the past three years, I have seen UAE\u2019s start-up funding scene growing significantly in terms of the size of start-ups and the number of companies we see in the market\u201d<\/p><\/div><style>.ld_fancy_heading_661410fcd7e27 h6 {margin-bottom:2em !important;  } @media (min-width: 992px) { .ld_fancy_heading_661410fcd7e27 h6 {margin-bottom:3em !important;  }  } .ld_fancy_heading_661410fcd7e27 .lqd-highlight-inner{height:0.275em!important;bottom:0px!important;}.ld_fancy_heading_661410fcd7e27 h6 {margin-bottom:2em !important;  } @media (min-width: 992px) { .ld_fancy_heading_661410fcd7e27 h6 {margin-bottom:3em !important;  }  } <\/style><div class=\"ld-fancy-heading ld_fancy_heading_661410fcd7e27\">\n\t<h6 class=\"ld-fh-element lqd-highlight-underline lqd-highlight-grow-left text-decoration-default\"   >  \u2014 Varis Sayed<\/h6><\/div>[vc_column_text]Investment in initial-stage start-ups is on the rise across the UAE as government-led initiatives supporting the start-up ecosystem lead to more interest in this space.<\/p>\n<p>Fincasa, a Dubai-based investment advisory, is the latest organisation to tap into this market by signing an agreement with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arabianbusiness.com\/startup\/463372-fincasa-inks-deal-with-imt-business-school-dubai-to-expand-uae-start-up-ecosystem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UAE\u2019s IMT Business School<\/a>\u00a0to help fund its students\u2019 business ideas and mentor them as they launch their businesses.<\/p>\n<p>The agreement, signed mid-May, will create a joint venture between Fincasa and IMT Business School where students\u2019 start-up ideas are developed to a level where they are executable, explained Varis Sayed, CEO of Fincasa.<\/p>\n<p>At that point, the participating start-ups are shortlisted and the selected ones \u2013 which have \u201can execution plan and a compelling story\u201d \u2013 are funded for their early stage development by Fincasa, Sayed said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRecent history has shown us there are plenty of capable young talents in the country; they just need the right platform and guidance and we come at that stage to deliver this,\u201d said Sayed.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=&#8221;11049&#8243;][vc_column_text]The UAE\u2019s fast-growing start-up ecosystem is what encouraged Fincasa, which had invested only in traditional stocks and funds as \u201cthe start-up ecosystem was very niche at the time, seven years ago,\u201d to invest in start-ups explained Sayed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the past three years, I have seen UAE\u2019s start-up funding scene growing significantly in terms of the size of start-ups and the number of companies we see in the market,\u201d said Sayed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is great support for start-ups from a lot of government initiatives and new angel investors and VCs have come in with a lot of money. The entire ecosystem is getting bigger and broader and we have seen some success stories, such as Careem, come out of it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-10\">\n<div class=\"ps-rl\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Close to $1.03 billion were invested into\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arabianbusiness.com\/startup\/459021-mena-startups-attract-1-billion-during-2020-despite-coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MENA-based start-ups in 2020<\/a>, a 13 percent increase from 2019, with UAE securing a 56 percent share of all capital deployed regionally, according to start-up data platform MAGNiTT.<\/p>\n<p>While the region\u2019s start-ups typically relied on funding from friends and family to get their ideas off the ground, Sayed said the number and awareness level of angel investors is on the rise, making it easier for entrepreneurs to approach them for funding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is to do with the government initiatives which have created an awareness among investors regarding opportunities in start-ups. Take for example crowd funding: It did not exist in this region for a long time and a lot of entrepreneurs were struggling as they would have to launch their company abroad and do the crowdfunding from there,\u201d explained Sayed.<\/p>\n<p>In mid-May, Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arabianbusiness.com\/funding\/463542-dubai-launches-new-platform-to-help-innovators-secure-funding-for-ideas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u2018Dubai Next\u2019<\/a>, a digital platform that allows ambitious youth and innovators to secure the required funding to launch their projects.<\/p>\n<p>The initiative will encourage the use of crowdfunding to finance a new business venture, a statement said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut now we have crowdfunding here which is good for the economy and the entrepreneur alike. We also have the remote working and digital nomad visas which will encourage a lot of entrepreneurs to come work from this region,\u201d he continued.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator]<style>.ld_button_661410fcdaab5.btn-icon-solid .btn-icon{background:rgb(25, 140, 184);}.ld_button_661410fcdaab5.btn-icon-circle.btn-icon-ripple .btn-icon:before{border-color:rgb(25, 140, 184);}.ld_button_661410fcdaab5{background-color:rgb(25, 140, 184);border-color:rgb(25, 140, 184);color:rgb(255, 255, 255);}.ld_button_661410fcdaab5 .btn-gradient-border defs stop:first-child{stop-color:rgb(25, 140, 184);}.ld_button_661410fcdaab5 .btn-gradient-border defs stop:last-child{stop-color:rgb(25, 140, 184);}<\/style><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arabianbusiness.com\/startup\/463678-new-source-of-initial-stage-funding-for-uaes-start-ups\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"btn btn-solid border-thin btn-has-label ld_button_661410fcdaab5\" rel=\"noopener\">\n\t<span>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"btn-txt\" data-text=\"Sorce : Click Here\" >Sorce : Click Here<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n<\/a>\n[\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Dubai-based Fincasa and IMT Business School ink agreement to mentor and fund the country\u2019s budding entrepreneurs[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Investment in initial-stage start-ups is on the rise across the UAE as government-led initiatives supporting the start-up ecosystem lead to more interest in this space. Fincasa, a Dubai-based investment advisory, is the latest organisation to tap into this market by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fincasacapital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11047"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fincasacapital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fincasacapital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fincasacapital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fincasacapital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11047"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/fincasacapital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11061,"href":"https:\/\/fincasacapital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11047\/revisions\/11061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fincasacapital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fincasacapital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fincasacapital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fincasacapital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}