Corporate Venturing is a growing trend worldwide, allowing corporates to accelerate innovation through collaboration with startups. Since we opened our office in Dubai in 2017, we have collaborated with major local and international organisations to help them invest in corporate venturing but also discovered marvellous local initiatives. That's why we decided to highlight and share with you 10 of the greatest corporate venturing initiatives in the UAE.

1. 10GREATEXAMPLESOF
CORPORATEVENTURING
INTHEUAE !

2. TOACCELERATE GROWTHANDINNOVATIONYOUMUSTBUILDANAGILEFLEETTHROUGHCORPORATEVENTURING
YOURCOMPANYISAMOTHERSHIP,AVERYSTABLEBUTSLOWMOTHERSHIP

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4. Yourcompany
Accelerationprogram
Startupstudio
Incubationprogram
Startupscouting
Fastprototyping
Corporateventuringcapital
Hackathon
Startupevents
CORPORATEVENTURINGFLEET
Amisconception aroundcorporateventuringisthat
it’s‘aboutStartupAcceleratorsorIncubatorsonly’.
Whichisnotentirelytrue,thereissomuchmore.

5. 10GREATEXAMPLESOF
CORPORATEVENTURING
INTHEUAE

6. MERGER & ACQUISITION

7. MERGER & ACQUISITION
Emaar Malls,theretailbusiness armof Dubai’sEmaarProperties,hasfully
acquiredonlinefashionretailer NamshiinFebruary 2019.
EmaarMalls acquiredNamshi toreinforcesit’spositionintherapidly growing
onlinemarketintheMiddleEast,complementingitsphysicalretailassets
portfolio.
Ouradvice:
CorporateVenturinghas tobe astrategicinitiativethatconnectsto theoverall
strategyof yourcompany.If youdecidetoacquireacompany,makesure it’s
alignedwithyournorthstarvision.

8. ACCELERATION & INTRAPRENEURSHIP

9. TheGreenhouse isauniqueretailtech-acceleratorprogramlaunchedby
theChalhoubGroupandfocused onacceleratingtechnology-driven
solutionscateredtowards fastgrowingretailstart-ups.
Chalhoubalsolaunched Ibtikar,anincubationandintrapreneurship
programprovidingtimeand fundingtotestandproveemployeesideas.
Ouradvice:
If youdecided tobuildaspacededicatedtoinnovation,don’thesitateto
bring-inexternalventures,intrapreneursandhosteventswithyour
employeestofoster innovationinyourcompany.
ACCELERATION & INTRAPRENEURSHIP

10. INCUBATION & INTRAPRENEURSHIP

11. INCUBATION & INTRAPRENEURSHIP
e25isanentrepreneurshipprogramenvisionedbyMohammedAlabbar,
Emaar’s chairman.
Hegathersateam of youngpeopleestablishandmanagemultipleventures
thatshape thefutureof Emaartoworkonsubjectsfromclimatechange,to
changingthewayphysicalstructures areconstructed.
Ouradvice:
Whenyoubuildanincubatorforinternalprojects,don’t hesitatetobring-in
externaltalents tosupportyourteam inyour innovationeffort.Also,makesure
theinnovations youbuild arealignedwithyour vision.

12. ACCELERATION PROGRAM

13. ACCELERATION PROGRAM
Startupbootcamplaunched incollaborationwith industry leadersaFinTech
accelerationprogramtohelpstartupsbuildahighlyscalablebusinesswithsolid
revenuegrowth.
Ouradvice:
Whencollaboratingwithexternalventures,workingwith arenownedorganization
willhelpyouattractthebeststartups,buildatrulyefficientprogramandengage
with startupsinthebestpossibleway.

14. COLLABORATION

15. Rotana,aprivatehotelmanagementcompanyinAbuDhabi,willpilota
directdistributionagreementwithAirbnbinDubai.
Residentialandproperty listingsonAirbnbintheUAErequiregovernment
regulatoryapproval.Rotana’spilotisthefirsttimeintheUAEahotelierhas
publiclyenteredintoanagreementwiththetechnologycompany.
Ouradvice:
If youwenttocollaboratewithexternalventure,makesureit isalignedwith
yournorthstarvisionand makesurethepeopleincharge sufficient
resources,processesandvisiontodriveit.
COLLABORATION

16. PITCH COMPETITION

17. Etisalat’s“HelloBusinessHub”isaonestopshop covering alltheneedsof
smalland mediumbusinesses and startups.
TheHelloBusiness Hub launched HelloBusinessPitch providing an
opportunityforstart-upstopitchtheirbusinessideasinfrontof anexpertpanel
of judgeswhoassesses theirbusinessmodel throughthestrength of theirpitch.
Apanelof judgesselectedthetopfivewinnerswhowereawardedprizes worth
uptoAED180,000.
Ouradvice:
Makeitmore thanjustaboutPitching,makeitaboutnetworking,bring inyour
executives,yourinnovationteamand yourecosystem!
PITCH COMPETITION

18. INCUBATION PROGRAM

19. INCUBATION PROGRAM
Intelakisanincubationprogramdedicatedtoinnovativeideasthat makestravelsimpler,better,or
moreexciting. The programis hostedbyDTECandledbyEmiratesGroup,GE andDubai
Tourism.
Selectedprojectwillreceiveacashprizeof uptoAED50,000andbeawardedaplaceonourtwo-
month intensive learning-by-doingincubationprogram.Theprogramalsoofferco-creationor
employmentopportunities (earlystageacqui-hire)withtheprogrampartners.
Ouradvice:
Leveragethestrengthof yourecosystembyjoiningforceswithothercompanies participating in
yourcustomerjourney.

20. INNOVATION LAB

21. INNOVATION LAB
Duistakingthelead tobuildaUAE5GInnovationLabtoprototype,testand
validateearly5GandInternetofThings(IoT)equipmentandservices.
U5GIGwillalsoallowuniversitiesandtechnicalorganisationacrossUAEto
worktogetherandparticipateinthedevelopmentof the5Gecosystem
Ouradvice:
Becauseof alackof framework,Innovationlabsoftenendup being anice
marketingandPRtoolinstead of aninnovationtheater.Makesureyoubuilda
teamwiththeright mindset,supportedbysufficientmeansandaclear
mandate.

22. ACCELERATION PROGRAM

23. ACCELERATION PROGRAM
DubaiFutureAcceleratorsis agovernmentinitiativetofacilitates
partnerships betweenlocaland international startups,privatesector
organizationsandgovernmententitiestoboostinnovationandco-create
solutionsforthefutureof Dubai.
Ouradvice:
Whenwethinkaboutcollaborativeinnovation,mostof thetime,weonly
thinkaboutstartups butlikeDubaiFutureAccelerator,youcanbuildan
ecosystem of startups and corporatestohelpyoutackleyourchallenges.

24. ACCELERATION PROGRAM

25. ACCELERATION PROGRAM
ADGM andPlugandPlaylaunchedthe3rdeditionof theirstartup
accelerationprograminAbuDhabi,focusedonFinTech.They partnered
with majorlocaland internationalfinancial institutions.
Thestartupsselected forthisthree-monthacceleratorprogram will have
theopportunitytoworkalongsidethefinancial institutionstoexecutePOC
orpilotprojects
Ouradvice:
To attractmajorstartups,joinforceswiththebestpartners.

26. EARN
Morethan1startup?
Yes:
VC Fund
TURN
No:
Purefinancial
transaction?
Yes:
Equity
investment
No:
Doesitmakesense toacquire100%?
Yes:
M&A
Notperse:
JointVenture
Sustained:
Frequently:
Adhoc:
Ourcommitment?
Notper se:Reversementorship
Do wewanttochangeculture?
No
Arewewillingtoinvest?
Startup Mondays
Dowewant tochangemindset? Yes:StartupSafari
Notperse:Networkevent(s)
Yes:Co-habitation
Yes:Non-equityinvestment
Dowe wanttobuildownsolutions?
Isthis aone-off initiative?
No:
Short-terminnovationasgoal?
Yes:
Accelerator
Yes:Tradeoff formoney?
No:
Incubator
No:
Dowe exactlyknowwhatwe
wanttogetoutof this?
Yes:
Hackathon
Yes:Buyfromstartup(s)
No:
Collaboration
withexistingstartup?
Yes:Reverse dating
No:StartupasaService
No
Yes
Acqui-hire
No
Dowe haveinternal
capabilities?YesStrategically soundtoinvest?
Yes
Notperse
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Whattypeof CVsuitsyou best?
START WITH THE END IN MIND AND WORK YOUR WAY TOWARDS
THE BEST MIX OF CORPORATE VENTURING FOR YOUR FLEET

27. NEEDHELP?
GETINTOUCH:
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WE HELP CORPORATES
INNOVATE & GROW
LIKE STARTUPS

29. GetourCorporateVenturingbook

30. 10GREATEXAMPLESOF
CORPORATEVENTURING
INTHEUAE !