The Bridge Programme’s demo day equips UAE startups with tools to grow innovative businesses
Krypto Labs, the Abu Dhabi-based global innovation hub, held The Bridge Programme’s Demo Day, where seven of the programme’s accelerated startups showcased their innovative businesses.
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The Bridge Programme is a unique hybrid initiative launched in partnership with Sandooq Al Watan that bridges the gap between incubator and accelerator programmes. With the aim to equip UAE-based entrepreneurs with the tools they need to start and grow their innovative and disruptive businesses, the programme was facilitated through weekly workshops and mentoring sessions where participants learned how to plan, start, and grow their businesses.
As the strategic partner of The Bridge, Sandooq Al Watan evaluated the startups for potential investment in addition to helping its deal flow through the fund's various initiatives and its extended network.
The startups that participated in the Demo Day:
- Kluly, a lifelong learning point-based motivation platform that allows users to track their daily online reading and learning, and earn credentials for them.
- Smart Navigation System, a startup specialized in location-based solutions.
- GROCART, a B2B wholesale marketplace that connects food & grocery retailers with suppliers in the UAE.
- Kandooz Studio, a platform that enables students to interact with each other and the teachers in a shared classroom virtual environment.
- fahfuh, an online marketplace connecting independent travelers with freelance driver-guides worldwide.
- Nodebook, an innovative way of editing and presenting content in the form of a tree.
- FEGI, an educational game development company that offers engaging, interactive, and performance tracking educational games that are mapped to the school curricula.
Anas Zeineddine, Executive Director of Krypto Labs, said: “We are delighted to present the teams who have showcased truly astounding potential during the 4-month programme. We believe that these startups will create and bring in disruptive solutions within their industries. The Bridge Programme reflects our efforts in contributing to the local innovation ecosystem by fostering, supporting, and accelerating the projects of UAE-based entrepreneurs whose innovations heighten and accentuate the UAE’s global position as an international hub for emerging startups.”
Emphasizing the significance of startups for the local economy, H.E. Ahmed M. Fikri, Acting Director General of Sandooq Al Watan, mentioned: “We are proud of the progress made by the entrepreneurs in all teams in the program over the past 4 months, especially as they adapt to a new way of collaborating remotely. We at Sandooq Al Watan firmly believe in the important role of innovative startups in fulfilling the vision of our leadership in the UAE and always strive to support Emirati entrepreneurs in developing and growing their technology startups through investments and capacity building programs that aim to support and empower entrepreneurs to innovators to participate in the development of our future.”
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Pakistani startups saw $18M invested in H1 2020, with the overall number of deals increasing by 13% to 17 deals from H1 2019, illustrating the potential of Pakistan to become the next big South Asian entrepreneurial hotspot. Discover more trends in our H1 2020 Pakistan Venture Investment Report.