Much of the support for high-tech-centric entrepreneurs in the UAE in recent years has been aimed at those with new start-ups. But more established business founders who have created a high-impact venture, with hundreds if not thousands of employees and significant revenues, now have the opportunity to scale up to an even greater level through the help of an organisation called Endeavor.
That is, if they are one of the fortunate few to pass a rigorous selection process that typically takes about one year.
Out of the more than 37,000 entrepreneurs who have been screened globally by Endeavor since the organisation launched in 2007, only 844 have made the final cut.
Endeavor is a global network of business leaders that donates time to advise a select pool of entrepreneurs from emerging markets, including many that work within technological sectors such as e-commerce and medical devices.
In 2013, Endeavor expanded its presence in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) by assembling a board in the UAE that features the who’s who of the local business community. It includes executives from companies such as The Abraaj Group, Chalhoub Group, Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, Apparel Group and Majid Al Futtaim, among others.
Some of these board members attended Endeavor’s annual gala in November in New York City, where Richard Branson was honoured by the organisation with an award for being the high-impact entrepreneur of the year.
“As a firm, The Abraaj Group, we’ve been involved with Endeavor across the entire region, seen the great work they were doing primarily in Latin America in the early days and said there’s a lot of entrepreneurship happening in the Arab world but the rest of the world doesn’t see it,” says Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, a partner at Abraaj in Dubai and board member at Endeavor’s office in the UAE.
“We want to highlight role models and felt that if [Endeavor] came here the impact would be substantial,” Mr Abdel-Wadood adds. “As a firm, we invest in entrepreneurs – perhaps at a much later stage – but you need to see that pipeline, you need to see that culture and we want to encourage cross-regional growth.”
Over the past 16 years, Endeavor has built a network of more than 2,700 business leaders who provide mentorship through fewer than 20 affiliate offices around the world, including seven now located within Mena.
The real debut for Endeavor in the UAE, local board members say, occurred in Dubai in December.
That is when the organisation’s international selection panel took place in the Emirates, for the first time, and where candidates from countries around the world showed that their business model, human resource practices and sales have the potential to create a significant number of jobs, generate substantial revenues and inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs to do the same.
Michael Lahyani was one of just two sets of entrepreneurs who were selected from the UAE during this selection panel. His online real estate database, Propertyfinder, lists more than 80,000 commercial and residential properties by agents in the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Egypt.
Three entrepreneurs behind the Dubai-based sports-network enabler, Duplays, also joined the local branch of Endeavor for coordinating tournaments and leagues for participants in more than 20 sports. Their venture has recently launched franchising technology that is already being deployed in Qatar, Jordan and India, but is looking to scale internationally as well.
Endeavor also announced in October and December that more than 50 additional high-impact entrepreneurs had survived its interview process over the previous year and had been selected to join the group, including some individuals from Mena.
The founders of Anghami, which sprung up in Lebanon, have produced a music-streaming application for mobile devices with songs in both English and Arabic.
Another digital service, Konutkredisi, became the first online brokerage platform to offer home and personal loans within Turkey.
Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, the entrepreneurs behind TalentS developed hands-on, engaging methods for teaching subjects such as technology and engineering through robotics competitions, for example.
In the past, some of Endeavor’s inductees have gone on to help to relieve the growing unemployment problem many countries face within Mena, says Linda Rottenberg, the organisation’s co-founder and chief executive.
For instance, the founders of Pozitron, a business based in Turkey that creates mobile payment and banking technologies, noted in 2007 that an Endeavor mentor told them to “never delegate negotiation”. They later remained involved in contract negotiations with major clients and brokered partnerships that helped to boost their employee count by 70 per cent from 2011 to 2012, while their revenues increased by 77 per cent during that period.
Board members in the UAE hope to influence local entrepreneurs, including those in the technology sector, in a similar way.
Currently, Endeavor’s affiliate office in Jordan has among the biggest portfolios of tech-focused companies within Mena.
More than 60 per cent of the 11 businesses it helps work within this field. “While we keep trying to diversify our portfolio, it’s the most prominent and fastest-growing sector in Jordan, and it’s hard to disregard all the companies,” says Rasha Manna, Endeavor’s managing director in Amman.
Her office does not invest in companies directly, but rather, helps founding entrepreneurs develop their pitch and link up to some of the more than 50 successful business leaders connected to Endeavor in Jordan. It also hosts roadshows across Mena, as well as in California, to spotlight its network of high-impact entrepreneurs in front of deep-pocketed investors.
“We’re focused on established business models that have scaled in Jordan and are ready to scale outside of the country,” says Ms Manna.
One venture in Jordan, for instance, partnered with an established company in California’s Silicon Valley after Ms Manna’s office made the introduction and helped to foster the relationship. Now, the Jordanian start-up is going to be incubated there.
“We’re going to see a lot of tech entrepreneurs coming from our Middle East offices,” says Ms Manna.
business@thenational.ae
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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.”
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
A%20MAN%20FROM%20MOTIHARI
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAuthor%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbdullah%20Khan%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPenguin%20Random%20House%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPages%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E304%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
More on Quran memorisation:
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Primera Liga fixtures (all times UAE: 4 GMT)
Friday
Real Sociedad v Villarreal (10.15pm)
Real Betis v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Barcelona (8.15pm)
Levante v Deportivo La Coruna (10.15pm)
Girona v Malaga (10.15pm)
Las Palmas v Atletico Madrid (12.15am)
Sunday
Espanyol v Leganes (8.15pm)
Eibar v Athletic Bilbao (8.15pm)
Getafe v Sevilla (10.15pm)
Real Madrid v Valencia (10.15pm)
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
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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
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
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
