Ten businesses board Manchester-backed accelerator in Dubai

University of Manchester’s Middle East Centre in Dubai has partnered regional entrepreneurship agency Innovest Middle East to start a United Arab Emirates-based accelerator called UAEpreneurs, Trade Arabia reported on Monday.
The scheme’s backers include healthcare group Johnson & Johnson’s Middle East subsidiary, along with entrepreneurship forum Startup Grind and youth-orientated nonprofit economic development platform MenaCatalyst.
UAEpreneur’s initial cohort has space for 10 startups from across the Middle East, with experts from Manchester’s Middle East Centre currently working to support the ongoing selection process, which has so far favoured proposals for consumer and business-facing digital applications.
The program will offer access to the centre’s executive education courses and contacts from its regional network of student and alumni. Graduates will ultimately pitch to angel investors and prospective partners at an investors’ day in Dubai in the hope of securing between $50,000 and $250,000 to launch or scale their businesses.
The Middle East Centre is part of University of Manchester’s global MBA program together with five other campuses situated in Manchester, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong and São Paulo. The Dubai campus also offers a part-time MBA in partnership with Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
Moatassem Moatez, partner at Innovest Middle East, said: “UAEpreneurs is an initiative to support the fast-growing startup community in the region. Our focus is on younger entrepreneurs and a practical approach to getting them the support, finance and skills they need to succeed.
Randa Bessiso, founding director of the Middle East Centre in Dubai, added: “From our own experience, we can see the very powerful attraction of entrepreneurial careers among professionals across the Middle East. Our aim is to support these innovators and our partnership with Innovest and the UAEpreneur programme is another way of doing this.”