Sharjah24: According to the latest Magnitt research, the UAE continues to lead the region in terms of funding, attracting more than $1.47 billion in venture capital in 2021. Per the same study, the trend continued this year as well. In the first half of 2022, UAE again secured the top spot, with companies raising $699 million, making it the leading country for venture capital financing in the Middle East and North Africa.

As the Sharjah Advanced Industrial Accelerator (SAIA) Program continues the journey with the shortlisted start-ups, securing funding plays an important role for their growth. The Investor Day event held on November 9 consisted of day-long interactive sessions designed to promote the seven selected companies in front of angel investors and venture capitalists for potential funding.   

In his opening comments, Mr. Hussain Al Mahmoudi, CEO of SRTI Park that factors like easy access to diverse funding channels and favourable legislative tools in the UAE were instrumental in building one of the most globally attractive landscapes for start-ups and entrepreneurs. 

He said SRTI Park plays a major role in acting as a gateway for innovations to the region, attracting start-ups and scale-ups as well as playing a matchmaker’s role with investors. 

“I am confident that the SAIA 2022 Investor Day will boost the investor appetite for investing in next-generation solutions that are being developed by these start-ups. My wish is that each of these finalists will gain the support of investors and turn their innovations into real-world solutions that will help people surmount challenges,” Al Mahmoudi added.

He said SRTI Park remains a strong hub for startups and investors, and has already attracted over $100 million in funds allocated towards research and development of solutions in transportation, agriculture, sustainability, renewable energy, 3D printing, digitization and other technologies. 

The startups then proceeded to participate in two panel sessions. The first panel session focused on what it takes to run a successful business and the second panel session was dedicated to different investment options available for the startups and the changing investment trends. 

The panellists included Mohamed Al Musharrakh, CEO Sharjah FDI Office; Adnan Sawadi, Founder & CEO, Sawadi Ventures; Mohamed Hilal, Founder and CEO of Mohamed Hilal Group; Romanna Dada, Investment Director – Brinc Venture Funds; Seif Elhakim, Co-Founder / Group Vice Chairman & Global CEO at Momentum Group Partners and Motaz Ben Saoud, Business Development Director, SRTI Park.

After listening to the key lessons from the interactive panel, the seven local and international startups proceeded to present and showcase their innovations to the audience, consisting of investors, key industry players and different organisations. 

The seven startups that pitched for investment on the Investor Day were: Rebooz (UAE) which has developed a patent-granted hydrogen technology for a combustion engine rejuvenation; Fuse (UAE) which retrofits existing vehicles from petrol to electric; Unitruder (UAE) which has invented personalized 3D printed footwear with limitless designs; 3DMechX (UAE) which specializes in additive and subtractive manufacturing technology; Inovatica AGV (Poland) which has developed autonomous forklifts; Efika (Egypt) which designs and manufactures solar cleaning robots that clean solar panels faster and cheaper; and Dreamaerospace (India), a green propulsion system manufacturer. 

The SAIA journey does not end here and will continue to the next milestones. The program, which has attracted over 1600 participants, was designed to attract local, regional and global start-ups to have access to the advanced industry landscape across UAE and the region to pilot and scale their solutions. This program is aligned with the UAE Advanced Industry Strategy designed to solidify UAE as a global hub for future industries.