Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park (SRTI Park) and the Spanish innovation consultancy Barrabés.biz launch a 100% digital accelerator with a unique value proposition in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa): Sharjah Advanced Industry Accelerator.
Since the end of March, the first global ‘call’ for attracting startups and companies has been open, with MVPs or with innovative and proven solutions in the market, able to respond to the challenges posed by Industry 4.0, in areas such as Smart Construction, smart materials, sustainable design, green building, modularization and prefabrication, building information modeling (BIM), additive manufacturing, as well as infrastructures and connected ecosystems.
Those startups that offer solutions to these challenges in these focus areas with technologies such as Big Data, 3D printing, robotics, augmented reality, the Internet of Things, Blockchain or cybersecurity, have until June 25 to sign up. The Selection Day will be held in a digital format in mid-July in which 8 finalists will be selected there. Those chosen will benefit from a 4-month acceleration program with specialized training, expert mentoring and business development advice with experts from the industrial ecosystem, government and academia. It doesn’t matter where the startup is actually located, since all the activities of the acceleration program will take place in a virtual environment.
The winning startup of this first edition will receive a prize valued at $100,000.
Creative measures for an exceptional situation
With the aim of helping companies to get ahead in these difficult times, Barrabés.biz and SRTI Park have decided to adapt their acceleration program and turn it into a 100% digital initiative, so that any startup or project, from anywhere in the world, can participate and accelerate their business to reach new markets. “We are proud that SRTI Park has chosen us for this mission, because at Barrabés.biz has spent years helping organizations and initiatives to digitize their innovation and entrepreneurship processes. Not only is an initiative feasible in 100% digital format, but the digitization of these processes allows the scope to be amplified to create new networks and synergies. From now on, new ways of working, operating and connecting will emerge, this is only the beginning”, explains Luis Martín, president of Barrabés.biz, a company that is based in Sharjah. The program allows startups to test, scale and establish a real link with large corporations in the United Arab Emirates by adapting their solutions to the specific needs of these accelerator partner organizations.
Winning startups will receive funding, physical space, and access to SRTI Park’s global ecosystem. In the words of Mr. Hussain Al Mahmoudi, CEO of SRTI Park, “This also strengthens our commitment to position Sharjah to lead at the forefront of advanced manufacturing by making the region a key manufacturing hub for the Sharjah workforce and beyond”.
