G7CR Technologies, a cloud services provider based in India, plans to invest up to $30 million to support start-ups in the Middle East and Africa region and India.
The company plans to select more than 1,000 start-ups to its accelerator programme next year, offering support across key business areas to help them grow and potentially become billion-dollar organisations.
G7CR Technologies has already invested more than $1m in 100-plus technology services start-ups in the third quarter through its Start-up 360 initiative, in which 30 per cent of investments were reserved for those in the UAE.
G7CR, which has an office in Dubai, is planning to select more than 300 start-ups from the UAE in the first half of 2022 to its accelerator programme. Three start-ups from the Emirates with the potential to become companies with a valuation above $1 billion – or unicorns as they are more popularly known – have already joined the programme, with 15 more having been identified.
"By building a cloud technology platform and working closely with these start-ups, we have understood various business challenges they face on a day-to-day basis. With our expertise and market reach, we intend to help these start-ups which even have the potential to become unicorns," said Christopher Richard, managing director and chief cloud architect of G7CR Technologies.
G7CR's initiative is in line with the UAE's goal of becoming a hub for innovative start-ups. Last month, the Emirates launched the Entrepreneurial Nation initiative, which aims to make the UAE home to 20 unicorns by 2031.
The UAE also announced a Dh1bn ($272m) private equity fund for lending to SMEs operating in strategic sectors, which is slated to be released in the first quarter of 2022 and continue over the next five years.
There are 16 unicorns in the Middle East, including ride-hailing service Careem and Saudi e-wallet STC Pay, according to data from Statista. Swvl, the Dubai mass transit and shared mobility services provider, is poised to make history by becoming the first Middle East unicorn to list on the Nasdaq.
Mena start-ups received $1.2bn in funding during the first half of 2021, more than the $1.09bn raised in the whole of 2020, Magnitt reported earlier this year.
G7CR's Start-up 360 plans to invest in an additional 200 start-ups in the next four to five months. Start-ups with business-to-business software-as-a-service products that are expanding their sales operations in newer regions including the MEA would receive benefits ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.
By building a cloud technology platform and working closely with these start-ups we have understood various business challenges they face on a day-to-day basis.
Christopher Richard,
managing director and chief cloud architect of G7CR Technologies
The investments will focus on strategic support across capital, competency building, revenue and technology, with the initiative helping start-ups to opt for transformative innovations and utilise cloud services for a wider approach in sales and boost productivity.
“Start-ups want to utilise the advantages that cloud technology bring to their business and at the same time they also look for a partner with advanced skills to migrate, optimise and manage their existing workloads to the cloud," Mr Richard said.
Aside from MEA and India, G7CR also has operations in the UK and South-East Asian countries.
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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 biog
Favourite film: The Notebook
Favourite book: What I know for sure by Oprah Winfrey
Favourite quote: “Social equality is the only basis of human happiness” Nelson Madela. Hometown: Emmen, The Netherlands
Favourite activities: Walking on the beach, eating at restaurants and spending time with friends
Job: Founder and Managing Director of Mawaheb from Beautiful Peopl
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Mobile phone packages comparison
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
COPA DEL REY
Semi-final, first leg
Barcelona 1 (Malcom 57')
Real Madrid (Vazquez 6')
Second leg, February 27
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