McKinsey has shown very clearly that there are millions of unofficial businesses. That is our target, the community we want to start with. For now, we are a solution for them to make more money, that is the only thing that they care about. We are really promoting ownership and privacy because on big e-commerce platforms your products and content are always surrounded by other people’s products. On our platform, it’s opposite. You can finally have your own space.” Globally-based founders selected for Techstars Dubai have been requested to relocate to the Emirate for the duration of the 13-week program. Among them are Debanga Raj Neog and Abi Ghafari, co-founders and coCEOs of Nytilus, a startup developing a new generation of AR/VR helmets for industrial applications. The Nytilus co-founders had previously experienced difficulties of starting a business in a new city and without a proper support network. “I’m from India and my cofounder is from Montreal, so when we started our business in Toronto, we didn’t have any good connections,” Neog says. “It is very hard to grow your business if you don’t have a strong network. That was something we were lacking at the time, being new to the city. At the same time, we needed funding, because building the hardware was very expensive. Even a small prototype can cost up to $20,000. We did a research on accelerators, and Techstars Dubai was perfect for us, not just because of the funding, but because of all the construction going on here. However, before coming here, we knew nothing about this market, we had no idea. We tried to read
about it, but that is very different from coming here and talking to people. One thing about Techstars is that they assign you a mentor, and the mentors we’ve got know a lot about the UAE. Every time we need to make a decision, we consult them.” Another cohort member is Muthla Al Sayer, CEO, omniX Labs, a platform for businesses that processes and analyzes video images, thereby enabling them to build applications with image recognition capability without the need to invest in and maintain their own machine. “If I didn’t enroll in Techstars, I don’t believe we’d be this focused, we’d probably be kind of playing around with the product still,” she says, adding that she initially did have doubts about enrolling in the program. ”I was extremely skeptical, because I’m not a 20-year-old, I’m very seasoned. I talked to a couple of people who graduated from the program, and to some who were enrolled in the program at the time, and all over the world. Now, I have to say that it was the right decision, because this program really forces you to focus on what you are trying to build, and then on scaling. They throw a lot of bodies at
“In addition to a large pool of quality mentors in the region and globally, founders get access to potential channel partners, enterprise customers, investors, and alumni founders through our global networks.”
“I BELIEVE THAT TECHSTARS IS UNIQUE COMPARED TO OTHER ACCELERATORS IN THAT WE HAVE A FINANCIAL ‘SKIN-INTHE GAME,’ AND OUR ‘FOUNDERS-FIRST’ MENTALITY.” you, in terms of the network, the mentors, and the people who are extremely capable from the industry, those who started many companies. So, you’re getting a breadth of knowledge that you would never get access to. So, before enrolling, you hear these things and you want to see them in action and, in our first week, the CEO of Techstars came and met with each one of the startups, spent 20 minutes with each, and he really cared. He’s the one who pushed us to work on our purpose. Then, he connected us with someone else to make sure we were actually on the right
track, so that was just in our first week. Throughout the program, we’ve all had to submit a weekly KPI report and have one-on-ones with the advisers. Also, there is a section called ‘Shout Outs’ which is where you thank people who have helped you, so you’re thinking about this gratitude every week, it’s almost like it’s engraved in your mind, because it means that you can, and do get help all the time.” With stories like these, it’s easy to see that Tirathrai has settled in well in his role as Techstars Dubai’s Managing Director- a serial entrepreneur and a former CEO at Entrepreneurs Organization, he brings more than 20 years of experience, expertise and empathy which is needed when supporting high-growth entrepreneurs. “Many of our companies come from various parts of the globe and often it’s the first time operating in the Middle East,” he notes. “Naturally, understanding cultural nuances and pace of doing business will vary greatly. That is often challenging to be in sync with our fast pace program. Patience, perseverance and relationship building will weigh in their favor for doing business here.”
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