Gulf Capital and MEED-GlobalData celebrated 10 years of supporting the regional SME community by recognizing the best-in-class SMEs at the 10th Gulf Capital SME Awards at a ceremony hosted at Palace Downtown Dubai.

Attended by over 250 SME business leaders, and industry stakeholders, the awards ceremony was a moment to pause and recognise the remarkable achievements of 14 small and medium sized businesses who proved that despite the challenges posed by a global pandemic, strong business principles, a focus on people and culture and commitment to innovation are all the ingredients necessary to develop and grow a successful business in the region.

In addition to the over-all winners recognized across 18 categories, the ceremony also celebrated a further 7 businesses as highly commended across categories including Customer Focus of the Year, Cigna People and Culture of the Year and the Gulf Capital Business of the Year.

This 10th annual edition of the awards proved one of the most competitive in recent years gathering over 340 submissions from companies that represented a combined annual turnover in excess of $3 billion.

IMMENSA, winner of the coveted Gulf Capital Business of the Year award, was recognised for their extremely strong business model and the way they’ve tapped into the very competitive oil and gas market. Commenting on the accolades, Dr Karim El Solh, CEO of Gulf Capital, said: “It has been a remarkable journey over the last 10 years of supporting and recognizing SMEs at the Gulf Capital SME Awards. Each year we see the remarkable ambition of these entrepreneurs who continue to serve as the backbone of the regional economy and push the boundaries of innovation, customer focus and economic growth. This year, we saw how these organisations overcame the challenges of a global pandemic by adopting agile business plans, focusing on their people and culture and customers’ needs. This is also a testament to the region’s resilience and I would like to congratulate all of the winners for their remarkable achievement.”

“This year’s winners are a reminder of why the SME community have quickly become the foundation of the region’s continued economic growth and development despite the global pandemic. Their commitment, passion and drive are an inspiration and we are delighted that we could create this opportunity to give them this much deserved recognition“ says MEED Group Commercial Director, Sonia Kerrigan.

The complete list of winners include:

• Business Innovation of the Year, ekar
• Business Leader of the Year, Natasha Hatherall, Founder and CEO, TishTash Marketing
• B2B Small Business of the Year, Tenderd
• B2B Technology Start-up of the Year, IQ Robotics
• B2C Technology Start-up of the Year, PawPots
• B2C Small Business of the Year, SQUATWOLF
• Customer Focus of the Year, Furchild
• Cigna People and Culture of the Year, TishTash Marketing and Public Relations
• Disruption of the Year, PointCheckout
• FedEx Start-up Business of the Year, Hayawiia
• Gulf Capital Business of the Year, IMMENSA
• Digital Business of the Year, ArtSmiley
• Emirati Business of the Year, AquaFun
• Entrepreneur of the Year, Ahmed Ben Chaibah, CEO, AquaFun
• Micro Business of the Year, One Clique Systems
• Marketplace Technology Start-up of the Year, Distichain
• Sustainable Business of the Year Award, Trident Trackway
• New Entrepreneur of the Year, Mohammad Absi Halabi, Founder & CEO, swftbox

Highly commended:

• Customer Focus of the Year, Time Lapse Middle East DMCC.
• Disruption of the Year, IMMENSA.
• Digital Business of the Year, Klaim.Ai
• Emirati Business of the Year, Farmin
• B2B Technology Start-up of the Year, FinFlx
• Marketplace Technology Start-up of the Year, BuildHop and BuzzBee
• Cigna People and Culture of the Year is, Qarar
• Gulf Capital Business of the Year, TishTash Marketing and Public Relations

Gulf Capital SME Awards is supported by Founding partner: Gulf Capital, Official Health and Wellbeing Partner; Cigna, Official Logistics Partner; FedEx Express, Endorsing Partners; Dubai SME and Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, and Association Partners; Dtec, in5, StartAD, and TieDubai.

The awards were also supported by VIP reception attendees eZone, Dupod, Hayawita, IQ Fulfilment and Land Sterling.