Four Mena start-ups awarded investments of $100,000 each

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business

The Fikra Labs Acceleration Programme, a new concept to drive innovation and foster entrepreneurship in the Abu Dhabi travel and tourism sector, concluded its four-week acceleration programme with the announcement of the four winning MENA start-ups.
The winning start-ups that were awarded the coveted investment opportunity included Tapklik Technologies mentored by DCT Abu Dhabi, ViaFone Technologies mentored by ADNEC, Arabot mentored by Etihad Aviation Group and Scene mentored by Miral.
Since its launch in February, Fikra Labs, developed by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, Miral, Etihad Aviation Group and Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company, supported by Abu Dhabi Global Market, in collaboration with Wamda, has become a centre of innovation for partners and participants. The programme concluded with a series of sessions in which the finalists worked with the Wamda team and industry experts to finalise their prototype, pitches and presentation decks. They then pitched their ideas to the jury and participated in a Q&A session before the four winners were announced.
HE Noura Al Kaabi, UAE Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development and Chairwoman of Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) commented: “We witnessed a huge leap during the course of the programme in the level of maturity each startup has presented. ADNEC is thrilled to be part of a programme that embraces innovation and values creativity. This initiative provides us with an opportunity to support entrepreneurs achieve financial and business sustainability and allows the winners to implement their creative ideas and projects, which ultimately contribute to changing business practices in the tourism sector in general and business tourism.”
Commenting on the success of the programme, HE Saif Saeed Ghobash, Undersecretary, the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, said: “As part of our mandate to promote Abu Dhabi as a destination of distinction, we began this year with the launch of a new concept to nurture the best talent who will help further transform Abu Dhabi into the leading global hub for travel and tourism. We are delighted to have found our four winning start-ups who were able to rise up to the challenges and shine bright as beacons of innovation. We look forward to working with them in the coming months.”
In his role as CEO of Miral, Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi said: “We are extremely proud to be one of the partners of the Fikra Labs project. We believe that an innovation-driven culture is essential to help us achieve our vision of making Yas Island one of the top tourist destinations in the world.”
Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said: “It’s a pleasure for Etihad Aviation Group to be a founding member of Fikra Labs, and we are excited to join our partners today for the final stage of this exciting initiative.”
HE Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Global Market, remarked: “As an international financial centre,
committed to supporting innovation, the Abu Dhabi Global Market will continue to actively engage the industry through such platforms and strengthen our support to augment
Abu Dhabi’s innovation ecosystem across the region.
We look forward to working closely with the winners of this programme and showcasing Abu Dhabi’s rising potential in incubating innovative talent.”
Each winning start-up was awarded with $100,000 investment by the relevant partner and will now be given the unique opportunity to become an integral part of the Emirate’s travel and tourism landscape.

During the four-week incubation period, each partner was responsible for training and guiding three start-ups to address different challenges with a key focus of enhancing the visitor’s experience – from the moment they book their ticket to arriving to Abu Dhabi. Partners were looking for ideas that best tackle these challenges and support them in establishing Abu Dhabi’s credentials as the leading hub for world-class tourism.
Each winning start-up was awarded with $100,000 investment by the relevant partner and will now be given the unique opportunity to become an integral part of the Emirate’s travel and tourism landscape.