Incubate Me Again ! Once Was Not Enough...
To give a shot in arm to the digital services and products market and unearth talents among the digital entrepreneurs, Saudi-based Intigral has launched — Afkar.me — the Middle East and North Africa’s first comprehensive start-up incubator. The initiative gives entrepreneurs everything they require to take ideas from conception to market and turn it into a reality. “We have a fund of around $250,000 initially and will give $20,000 to each start-up for the first three months,” Dr Ismaeel Makdisi, acting CEO at Intigral, told Gulf News on the sidelines of a press conference in Dubai. Dubai Internet City had launched a similar initiative— In5 —to make UAE the newest hot spot for tech entrepreneurs and start-ups. When asked how different it is from In5, he said: “We are from the industry and we know what it takes to make it happen. We have the experts and the knowhow. For us, this is our flagship initiative but for the government it is one in a million.” According to Frost and Sullivan, startups in the Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region have grown in number by more than eight times since 2005. Investments in IT startups in the region last year stood at $124 million. Makdisi said that the current value of the regional digital market is around $5 billion and it is expected to grow to $18 billion by 2018.
With around 12 partners in hand, he added that Intigral is in talks with people. Open to applications across the globe, Makdisi said the initiative offers anyone with a great idea the unique opportunity to receive support from Intigral’s expertise, and an unparalleled access to the Middle East market. He said the application is available online and 10 teams will be selected in the initial phase. Out of this, three will be selected to develop their businesses with AFKAR.me. The programme will be an annual initiative with four applications a year, targeting two intakes each from UAE and Saudi Arabia respectively. Importantly, if a project does not get selected “they can develop on the feedback given during the boot camp weekend and re-apply to the next intake,” Makdisi said.
