Qafila win AED 50k and is selected by an Incubator lead by Emirates Airline
Qafila, the UAE’s first digital freight forwarder, has been selected by Intelak, the UAE’s aviation, travel and tourism-focused incubator, as one of the 4 winners of its sixth cohort. Winners were selected from a pool of more than 100 applications from around the world, following a week-long intensive pre-incubation bootcamp with ten finalists and finally a Shark-Den style demo day with judges; Alex Alexander – Emirates Group Chief Technology office, Rania Rostom – GE’s Chief Communications & innovation officer, Yousuf Lootah – Director of Tourism Development & Investments, and Hans Henrik Christensen – VP of Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus.
Qafila will get a chance to work closely with program partners such as Emirates to develop new and exciting pilot for Air cargo in the coming months, leveraging technologies such as big data, AI and real-time data exchange for logistics in UAE that will help both demand and supply side of cargo.
Sixth-round winners include: Elves, from Egypt, a human-first virtual assistant developed as a lifestyle solution for busy people; and Safety Line, from France, which takes a big data approach to underused ground radar data to unleash unprecedented airside analytics for more efficient, safer, and greener airport operations.
Eddy Travels, from Lithuania, is an AI travel assistant that helps travel companies sell and provide support to customers 24/7 on any chat app, while Qafila, from the UAE, provides a real-time data exchange platform that helps solve cargo sector inefficiencies and pain points by connecting various sector stakeholders.
This round saw more than 100 applications which were submitted – the highest number in Intelak’s history – supporting the UAE’s vision to become a global hub for startups and entrepreneurship. Intelak is led by Principal Partners GE, the Emirates Group, and Dubai Tourism (the Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing).
The four winning startups will each receive a cash prize of AED 50,000, which will be distributed at key milestones on their entrepreneurial journey. They also will take part in Intelak’s two-month intensive learning-by-doing incubation program. This consists of structured workshops, mentorship, and a space to build their venture at DTEC, a tech startup hub located in Dubai Silicon Oasis.
The incubation will kick off on October 4th and will conclude with an Investor Demo Day in December. This pitch event gives each startup the opportunity to present to industry experts, angel investors, and venture capitalists for potential further collaboration and/or investment.