For Bushra Ezzeddine, the owner of a small event management company, Dubai’s Startup Weekend provided an opportunity to soak up mentoring on entrepreneurship that could have taken three months in a school.
She came away with more than that. The 33-year-old from Lebanon and mother of two was part of a team that got the nod for the best business idea developed over a marathon 54-hour session of pitching and brainstorming.
On the final day, the idea transformed into a mobile-phone application for a rewards system for children for doing their chores. Called KidzWeekend, the app will soon have a new name to reflect its purpose.
The idea has gathered interest, and Ms Ezzeddine says three investors have approached them.
“We are enforcing good behaviour by helping parents,” says Ms Ezzeddine, the managing director of Boutique Events, which she started last year.
KidzWeekend was among 17 ideas pitched on the final day of the latest edition of Startup Weekend, organised by a group of entrepreneurs, called Young Arab Leaders (Yal), with support from Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Fund. Given the UAE’s expanding start-up base despite funds crunch for small to medium businesses, events such as these help the start-up ecosystem, say budding entrepreneurs.
This year, 120 people, including start-up entrepreneurs signed up for the event, and almost half of them pitched their ideas on the first day. The delegates got 60 seconds to present, the best ideas were selected, the attendees were grouped around one of the ideas they liked and came up with the final pitches.
“Startup Weekend is a global success story and will have a great influence on people here, besides young entrepreneurs get an opportunity to get one-on-one feedback from mentors,” says Muna Easa Al Gurg, the director of retail at Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group and chairwoman of Yal UAE.
The winning teams received prizes and packages worth Dh500,000 in total.
A mobile-phone application renamed Loopd won the second prize. The app helps event delegates at an event meet relevant people by checking their profiles and connect with them. It expects to launch in the middle of next month in Dubai.
Networking at events is about being well-informed and also being in the right place at the right time, says Emad Khan, who is responsible for branding and design of the app.
“While taking juice from the lunch counter at Startup Weekend, I started a conversation with a gentleman who was standing next to me and he turned out to be someone who I had been trying to get in touch with ever since I came to Dubai in October,” he said. The 23-year-old from Pakistan had been looking for a job before Startup Weekend.
“It is this information gap which we’re trying to solve. Of course, we want the process to be streamlined so that no one is abusing another person’s time and peace of mind by badgering them.”
The winning Emirati idea was GaraJack, an application that helps motorists to find the right service garage according to their needs and reviews.
The availability of talented professionals and tax-free income were among the attractions of starting a business in the Emirates.
For John Power those were reasons enough to choose Dubai as the launchpad for his idea, Rent a Local, despite a funds crunch for small enterprises here. Rent a Local won third prize.
“The idea is to provide visitors with locals who are able to take them around, show the local restaurants and sites of historical interest,” says Mr Power, a 41-year-old British national. “And local is a loose term and could be any person living and residing in a town or city.”
Visitors would need to pay Dh60 an hour, of which 15 per cent would go to Rent a Local.
Recruitment for the “locals” will be done through contacts and Facebook, and there are plans to launch in Paris, London and New York.
For all the winners, including Ms Ezzeddine, it is time to give shape to the business model and develop their ideas into an enterprise.
Aimed at children aged five to 15, KidzWeekend functions much like a game, where a child can progress by doing more chores, or by doing something extra, such as spending more free time doing maths.
“We have four mums in our team of six, and this really touches our lives,” she says. “I am already asking my children on their feedback, and how to make it attractive.”
ssahoo@thenational.ae
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
CRICKET%20WORLD%20CUP%20LEAGUE%202
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
Plan to boost public schools
A major shake-up of government-run schools was rolled out across the country in 2017. Known as the Emirati School Model, it placed more emphasis on maths and science while also adding practical skills to the curriculum.
It was accompanied by the promise of a Dh5 billion investment, over six years, to pay for state-of-the-art infrastructure improvements.
Aspects of the school model will be extended to international private schools, the education minister has previously suggested.
Recent developments have also included the introduction of moral education - which public and private schools both must teach - along with reform of the exams system and tougher teacher licensing requirements.
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
