The Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund (MBRIF), an initiative launched by the UAE Ministry of Finance to support innovation in the UAE, has selected ten local and global innovators for the Summer Cohort of the MBRIF Accelerator program.
The ten new members of MBRIF’s Accelerator program include four UAE-based businesses – Flugauto (Technology sector); Sonostik (Health sector); Dapi (Technology sector); and Insure@Oasis (Technology sector), in addition to six international businesses: Jibrel in Switzerland (Technology sector); US-based Key2enable (Education sector); UK-based Teacherly (Education sector); RealEDU from Sweden (Education sector); Caddie Engineering from France (Clean Energy sector); and Desolenator from the Netherlands (Water sector).
Underscoring the potential of the new cohort is the fact that Dr. Hawaa Almansouri, founder of the UAE-based Sonostik, was recently named ECSSR Federal Personality of the Year 2019 by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. Furthermore, UK-based Teacherly has already received a funding commitment from Shorooq Investments, while assistive technology company Key2enable from the USA walked away with the USD 100,000 prize at this year’s GITEX Supernova Challenge. UAE-based Flugauto was also well-received by international attendees during the company’s participation at TechCrunch San Francisco earlier this month.
The Summer Cohort joins the MBRIF Accelerator’s current 19 members, chosen after a three-month-long process in which 159 applications from 38 countries across 6 continents were reviewed. Applications included global changemakers tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges in seven priority sectors aligned with the UAE National Innovation Strategy: Technology, Health, Space, Water, Clean Energy, Transport and Education.
Launched in 2018, the MBRIF Accelerator aims to enhance growth potential of innovative startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) shaping the future of the UAE’s economy. The MBRIF Accelerator offers members access to world-class services and coaching through an ecosystem of global experts and partners to accelerate their innovations, elevate capabilities, unlock value and achieve scale. Businesses applying to the program can be based locally or globally, as long as they seek to operate and grow in the UAE.
Younis Haji Al Khoori, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, said:
“The MBRIF Accelerator is proud to welcome ten new members into our growing family, and we are pleased with the high quality of applications received from local and global innovators working to address the world’s biggest challenges in new and exciting ways.”
“We hope to work with selected innovators, empowering them to develop their businesses into successful ventures that benefit their communities and further the UAE’s vision of becoming one of the most innovative nations in the world,”
added Al Khoori.
The selected innovators will benefit from MBRIF Accelerators’ tailored program offering five groups of services: Articulating Strategic Direction, Articulating and Validating Business Model, Access to Markets and Clients, Access to Funding and Finance and Defining a People Strategy.
Applicants of the MBRIF Accelerator’s program, undergo a rigorous four-step process starting with an eligibility screening, a qualification assessment, an evaluation, and a face-to-face pitch before the Advisory Decision Committee (ADC), a panel of industry experts from leading institutions. Applications from high potential innovators from across the world are assessed in four areas, namely on their innovative product or service, team capabilities, alignment to the UAE strategy, and the potential to tangibly impact the UAE, both socially and economically.
