Airbnb is one of the notable successes of the post-Great Recession era. AFP
Airbnb is one of the notable successes of the post-Great Recession era. AFP
Airbnb is one of the notable successes of the post-Great Recession era. AFP
Airbnb is one of the notable successes of the post-Great Recession era. AFP

What to expect from start-ups in a post-pandemic world


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In the wake of crises, we often find tectonic shifts in certain industries, driven by sudden and drastic changes in consumer behaviour and business sentiment. These often culminate in new platforms.

As a result of a surge in demand for certain products, services or revised pricing, an overwhelming number of companies and assets are mobilised to capture these new market opportunities. Think Airbnb, founded in 2008, or Uber, which launched the following year. Both created on-demand platforms to allow individuals to monetise their idle commodities: cars, time and space. The advancement of technology has allowed us to consolidate commodities under one umbrella, called a platform, enabling users and purchasers to easily identify, negotiate and purchase these products or services, forever changing the face of the industry.

Suddenly, anybody with a car or a house – and a reliable Internet connection – could use these platforms to offer trips from point A to B or a holiday rental, opening up new and massive addressable markets in sectors that had been historically limited by regulation or infrastructure shortfalls. The aggregation of these commodities, coupled with the user-friendliness of the technology, created platforms that changed the face of their respective industries: transportation and accommodation.

An Uber pick-up location in San Diego, California. Uber launched in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Reuters
An Uber pick-up location in San Diego, California. Uber launched in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Reuters

New start-ups took these on-demand models even further to create platforms that tapped adjacent or expanded market opportunities. E-scooter ventures Bird and Lime built businesses serving last-mile mobility needs. DoorDash raised $2.5 billion for its on-demand food delivery service and Turo made it possible for people to rent out their unused cars via an app, altering forever the way we order food, and the think about logistics.

So what market disruption will come from Covid-19? I expect accelerated innovation and adoption of platforms that commoditise and digitise medicine, education and employment, amongst others.

The most obvious surge in demand has been in health care, where despite significant technological advancements, a user-friendly patient journey for those who fall sick does not yet exist. There is not one platform to carry a patient from sickness to wellness seamlessly: to include information, booking, tele-consultation, medical records and pharmaceutical delivery.

The pandemic has encouraged an incredibly large number of HealthTech start-ups to consider how we may re-invent this space.

The commoditisation of medical consultations over the phone or via web chat has rendered them a feature in most digital health solutions. These are now scaling to solve other industry challenges, ultimately bringing the entire medical office experience online, from diagnosis to booking a doctor’s appointment to administration, and automatically tracking health data (enabled by the commoditisation of wearables).

An employee of Swiss biotechnology company Molecular Partners takes samples out of a colony picker robot in a laboratory in Schlieren, Switzerland, this week. Reuters
An employee of Swiss biotechnology company Molecular Partners takes samples out of a colony picker robot in a laboratory in Schlieren, Switzerland, this week. Reuters

Ultimately, this will form the creation of a platform: one place to go for all your healthcare needs.

The biggest bottleneck for EdTech start-ups has always been the quality and availability of educational content. For many years, start-ups in this vertical struggled to find – and to create – engaging educational content. Then came Covid-19.

In a few short months, the world of education was inundated with content (good, bad, public, private, accurate, inaccurate) and education technology companies saw an unprecedented boom in users as schools and parents were forced to use remote learning options. Educators and parents alike grappled with making sense of all this new content, and these new start-ups: separating out the valuable from the useless, consolidating it and sharing it in a useful manner with children – all remotely and using technology.

The ineffectiveness of this process, combined with the commoditisation of content, highlights the massive need for an education platform: a user-friendly journey where content is consolidated, sorted and presented to the user in a manner that creates value, is trackable and where results can be seen.

WFH is the quintessential acronym to capture the impact of this pandemic on employment. Covid-19 has confined a greater number of people to their homes than perhaps any other event of the past hundred years. The shift has largely demonstrated that individuals can continue to create value for their organisations by working remotely, heralding an opportunity for the concept of work and offices to be revisited.

Employees and interns of JP Morgan participate in a video conference via Zoom last week. Reuters
Employees and interns of JP Morgan participate in a video conference via Zoom last week. Reuters

This confinement has given rise to more than just the adoption of video conferencing applications such as Zoom. It will force mindset changes around remote work, value creation and the complete abolishment of "face-time" at the office. This shift will democratise access to work opportunities and ensure individual contribution is measured by value created, not time spent.

For jobs where physical presence is required, technology and matching will be used to create platforms where the commoditisation of skills and time are factored into optimal matching with opportunities offering the highest level of pay, down to the week, day and even the hour.

I can imagine a platform that will one day match jobs directly to the online training and education required to do them and that then assigns future monetary value to different digital learning options.

A recent example of just such an approach is a company called Ogram. Its “human-cloud” platform offering on-demand temporary staffing solutions for on-site manpower, acting as a freelance marketplace connecting temporary workers to jobs in F&B, hospitality, retail, e-commerce and logistics sectors depending on time spent, and talent proven. This is, however, just the beginning.

As Facebook grows and expands Facebook Shops, we are seeing even the traditional lemonade stand shifting to a platform. Courtesy Facebook
As Facebook grows and expands Facebook Shops, we are seeing even the traditional lemonade stand shifting to a platform. Courtesy Facebook

As these three industries, in addition to others, experience a surge in technology adoption and reinvent themselves, history has taught us that the winners will be the platforms that create the most effective user-friendly journeys, allowing customers to access their desired products and services intuitively, and preferably in less than three clicks.

The rise of mobility platforms changed the world: it democratised access and opportunities for jobs across emerging economies where people could now easily go to work, creating income for their families.

There are now economic tailwinds to send health care, education and employment in a similar direction. This will provide inclusion in developed and developing regions alike: democratised access to these industries provide new opportunities and change the world.

Noor Sweid is founder and general partner of Global Ventures

U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES

UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
Saturday 15 January: v Canada
Thursday 20 January: v England
Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh

UAE squad
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly, Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya Shetty, Kai Smith

The specs

BMW M8 Competition Coupe

Engine 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8

Power 625hp at 6,000rpm

Torque 750Nm from 1,800-5,800rpm

Gearbox Eight-speed paddleshift auto

Acceleration 0-100kph in 3.2 sec

Top speed 305kph

Fuel economy, combined 10.6L / 100km

Price from Dh700,000 (estimate)

On sale Jan/Feb 2020
 

Rooney's club record

At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17

At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253

What is Reform?

Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.

It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.

Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.

After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.

Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.

The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.

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MOST%20POLLUTED%20COUNTRIES%20IN%20THE%20WORLD
%3Cp%3E1.%20Chad%3Cbr%3E2.%20Iraq%3Cbr%3E3.%20Pakistan%3Cbr%3E4.%20Bahrain%3Cbr%3E5.%20Bangladesh%3Cbr%3E6.%20Burkina%20Faso%3Cbr%3E7.%20Kuwait%3Cbr%3E8.%20India%3Cbr%3E9.%20Egypt%3Cbr%3E10.%20Tajikistan%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cem%3ESource%3A%202022%20World%20Air%20Quality%20Report%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

Super Bowl LIII schedule

What Super Bowl LIII

Who is playing New England Patriots v Los Angeles Rams

Where Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, United States

When Sunday (start time is 3.30am on Monday UAE time)

 

The Little Things

Directed by: John Lee Hancock

Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto

Four stars

Company%20profile
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The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz GLA

Price, base / as tested Dh150,900 / Dh173,600

Engine 2.0L inline four-cylinder

Transmission Seven-speed automatic

Power 211hp @ 5,500rpm

Torque 350Nm @ 1,200rpm

Fuel economy, combined 6.4L / 100km

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

Everton%20Fixtures
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What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

Honeymoonish
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Breast cancer in men: the facts

1) Breast cancer is men is rare but can develop rapidly. It usually occurs in those over the ages of 60, but can occasionally affect younger men.

2) Symptoms can include a lump, discharge, swollen glands or a rash. 

3) People with a history of cancer in the family can be more susceptible. 

4) Treatments include surgery and chemotherapy but early diagnosis is the key. 

5) Anyone concerned is urged to contact their doctor

 

History's medical milestones

1799 - First small pox vaccine administered

1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery

1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases

1895 - Discovery of x-rays

1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time

1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin

1953 - Structure of DNA discovered

1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place 

1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill

1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.

1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out

Top financial tips for graduates

Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:

1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.

2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.

3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.

4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.

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
RACE CARD

6.30pm: Baniyas Group 2 (PA) Dh 97,500 (Dirt) 1,400m.

7.05pm Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,200m

7.40pm Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,400m

8.15pm Handicap (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,400m

8.50pm Rated Conditions (TB) Dh 120,000 (D) 1,600m

9.25pm Handicap (TB) Dh 95,000 (D) 1,200m

10pm Handicap (TB) Dh 85,000 (D) 2,000m

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hoopla%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jacqueline%20Perrottet%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2010%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20required%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO

 

Maratha Arabians 107-8 (10 ovs)

Lyth 21, Lynn 20, McClenaghan 20 no

Qalandars 60-4 (10 ovs)

Malan 32 no, McClenaghan 2-9

Maratha Arabians win by 47 runs

Politics in the West
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg

Tottenham v Ajax, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE).

Second leg

Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm

Games on BeIN Sports

'THE WORST THING YOU CAN EAT'

Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.

Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines: 

Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.

Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.

Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.

Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.

Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

MATCH INFO

Fixture: Thailand v UAE, Tuesday, 4pm (UAE)

TV: Abu Dhabi Sports

Uefa Champions League last 16 draw

Juventus v Tottenham Hotspur

Basel v Manchester City

Sevilla v  Manchester United

Porto v Liverpool

Real Madrid v Paris Saint-Germain

Shakhtar Donetsk v Roma

Chelsea v Barcelona

Bayern Munich v Besiktas

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Why the Tourist Club?

Originally, The Club (which many people chose to call the “British Club”) was the only place where one could use the beach with changing rooms and a shower, and get refreshments.

In the early 1970s, the Government of Abu Dhabi wanted to give more people a place to get together on the beach, with some facilities for children. The place chosen was where the annual boat race was held, which Sheikh Zayed always attended and which brought crowds of locals and expatriates to the stretch of beach to the left of Le Méridien and the Marina.

It started with a round two-storey building, erected in about two weeks by Orient Contracting for Sheikh Zayed to use at one these races. Soon many facilities were planned and built, and members were invited to join.

Why it was called “Nadi Al Siyahi” is beyond me. But it is likely that one wanted to convey the idea that this was open to all comers. Because there was no danger of encountering alcohol on the premises, unlike at The Club, it was a place in particular for the many Arab expatriate civil servants to join. Initially the fees were very low and membership was offered free to many people, too.

Eventually there was a skating rink, bowling and many other amusements.

Frauke Heard-Bey is a historian and has lived in Abu Dhabi since 1968.

UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Matt%20Drummond%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlyla%20Browne%2C%20Alice%20Parkinson%2C%20Sam%20Everingham%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes. 
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

Infiniti QX80 specs

Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6

Power: 450hp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000

Available: Now