Dubai Startup Hub's Smartpreneur Competition 6.0 Is Open And Welcoming Solutions In The Field Of Sustainability, Opportunity And Trade Applications for the competition is now open, deadline for submission is on the 30th of September 2021.

Dubai Startup Hub, the entrepreneurship initiative of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has launched the sixth cycle of the Dubai Smartpreneur Competition. In line with Expo 2020 Dubai, this year's competition is welcoming tech-enabled startups offering solutions in the field of sustainability, opportunity, and trade.

Open to all entrepreneurs based or planning to move to the UAE, participants are required to have a minimum viable product, as well as for its solution to be past the idea stage, and must have launched no earlier than 2016.

Following the submission deadline, entries will be evaluated, and a selection of top 30 finalists would be shortlisted by a panel of judges and experts, followed by a four-day pitch bootcamp. The competition would culminate with the final top 10 finalists pitching live at Expo 2020 Dubai.

With a total of US$150,000 as monetary prizes up for grabs, participants can avail the Startup Support Package, consisting of an investor matching session, mentorship opportunities, access Dubai Chamber's events and trainings, and an opportunity to present their concept at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Source: Dubai Chamber

The launch ceremony, held as an online virtual event, was attended by Dubai Chamber officials, previous competition winners, and members of the local startup community. Hamad Buamin, President and CEO of Dubai Chamber, commented on how the launch of the competition, aligns with the Chamber's entrepreneurship strategy of providing entrepreneurs and startups with the knowledge and tools to grow.

At the event, Kareem Ayyad, founder of Cerebian, Ferakh Lakhany, co-founder of Arabee, and Amine Staali, co-founder and CTO of ProvenMed, all of whom were previous winners of the competition, offered insights on entering Smartpreneur, as well as advice on pitching and leveraging the opportunities presented by the initiative.

In addition, an expert panel consisting of Omar Khan, Director-International Offices of Dubai Chamber, Begona De Albornez, Corporate Citizenship Lead – Middle East of Accenture, and Tala Al Ansari, Director – Innovation Ecosystem – Transition Unit of Expo 2020 Dubai, discussed various opportunities that would be available for entrepreneurs in the competition, as well as District 2020's global entrepreneur program Scale2Dubai, which will enable participants to grow their businesses in Dubai and beyond.

Applications for the competition is now open, deadline for submission is on the 30^th of September 2021.