Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted visiting delegations from Brazil, Azerbaijan and Ethiopia on the sidelines of GITEX Technology Week 2019 joined by business leaders and government officials, while it facilitated over 100 bilateral business meetings taking place throughout the week.

Dubai Startup Hub, an initiative of Dubai Chamber, organised the visits in cooperation with Dubai Chamber’s representative offices in Sao Paulo, Baku and Addis Ababa, with the aim of familiarising visiting delegates with business opportunities in Dubai and innovative solutions from promising startups based in the emirate.

As part of the roadshows, the delegates will visit FintechHive and Dtec, and participate in the Fast Track session with Smart City StartupBootcamp where they will compete for enrollment in the accelerator programme. In addition, the delegates will meet with 16 startups that are exhibiting this week at Dubai Startup Hub’s stand at GITEX Future Stars 2019.

The selected startups represent a wide variety of sectors and fields, including e-commerce, artificial intelligence, robotics, fitness, retail, IT, social media, design, education, tourism and sharing economy. Among the entrepreneurs exhibiting their startups at the Dubai Startup Hub stand are: Mohammed Asad, Founder of Machinery Planet; Muhannad Al Darrai, Founder of Meeked; Fahim Almas, Founder of Almas Robotics; Tamara Hachem, Founder of Shala Online; Geetanjali Kaul, Foudner of Turtle Card; Ryan Ribeiro, Founder of Invoiz; Nadim Habr, Founder of Design Hubz; German Gussakovskiy, Founder of Digital Falcon; Tarik Qahawish, Founder of Localyser; Maryam Alfalasi; Founder of Edushop; Niall English, Founder of Futuradesign; Mashael Al Ali, Founder of ReUrban; Hamad Eghdani, Founder of e-Mandoobi; Adil Abdullayev, Founder of Qmeter; Marwan Albloushi; Founder of Yah portal; and Zaid Kidwai, Founder of BorrowBlob.

Around 31% of the startups joining Dubai Startup Hub’s stand at GITEX Future Stars 2019 are founded by Emirati entrepreneurs, while the exhibitors represent some of the most successful startups that have leveraged the Dubai Startup Hub platform to build viable businesses in Dubai.

Visitors to the Dubai Startup Hub stand can learn all about the benefits offered by its various initiatives and programmes, such as Market Access, Dubai Startup Hub’s networking and entrepreneurship advocacy series, Dubai Smartpreneur Competition, in addition to the wide range of services, resources and tools offered to members, aspiring entrepreneurs and established companies in Dubai.

Mr. Omar Khan, Director of International Offices for Dubai Chamber, described the roadshows as a strategic effort to leverage the networks of the Chamber’s international offices and entrepreneurship initiative Dubai Startup Hub to effectively promote Dubai as a global innovation hub and preferred market for startups, adding that GITEX offers an ideal platform for visiting delegates to learn about the emirate’s business environment and meet with prospective business partners.

In addition, Dubai Startup Hub is hosting an interactive mentorship session at GITEX Future Stars led by Ms. Natalia Sycheva, Manager of Entrepreneurship at Dubai Chamber, which features practical tips and case studies from the Dubai Startup Hub team and startups that have built successful businesses in Dubai.

Sycheva revealed that an additional networking event will be held at Emirates Towers later this week where the heads of Dubai Chamber’s Brazil, Azerbaijan and Ethiopia offices will offer valuable insights on business opportunities in these promising markets. She noted that Dubai Startup Hub provides an important platform for its members to showcase their offerings at GITEX and boost their exposure in the market, adding that the week-long event offers an opportunity to engage with Dubai’s entrepreneurial community.