DAFZA holds grad ceremony of ‘Double Up 3M’ programme

Dubai / Emirates Business

The Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (DAFZA) held a Graduation Ceremony for the first batch of its participants of Double Up 3M corporate accelerator program launched last September. The pioneering program was created especially for DAFZA customers to help accelerate business growth and develop their companies, in line with the Freezone’s commitment to make innovation a key pillar in the nation’s move to build a competitive knowledge-based economy characterized by diversification, productivity and sustainability. It was also created to help support the Freezone companies and encourage them to adopt a culture of innovation. The ceremony took place at the DAFZA Business Center in Dubai. The honoring rites were part of the Freezone’s special activities for this year’s UAE Innovation Week running from November 20 to 26.
Double Up 3M is an intensive 95-day capacity building and accelerator program open to DAFZA’s hosted companies and overseen by the Freezone’s Innovation Unit. It develops customized plans to enhance the Mission, Market and Money of participating enterprises and addresses other major organizational challenges that impede business growth in neighboring and global economic markets. The program facilitates customer discovery and selection, provides mentorship from highly-skilled professionals, and shares specialized content with key teams of the business.
Among the members of the first DAFZA-tailored Double Up 3M batch were Inspativity, Winoa, Armada, Chapman Freeborn, Raw Trade, BOS, Green Technologies, Topnet, Rainbow International, and Unitechnik FZE. They were mentored by experts on Business Management and Strategy, Marketing and Advertising, Branding and Marketing, Credit and Cash Management, and Business Strategy and Leadership.
Amna Rashid Lootah, Assistant Director General of Finance and Commercial division, DAFZA, said: “UAE Innovation Week highlights the latest achievements related to the National Innovation Strategy, which aims to make the country one the most innovative in the world by 2021. As such, it was a fitting occasion to coincide with the graduation of our Double Up 3M participants. We will continue to use the Double Up 3M program as a major platform for fully supporting DAFZA’s innovation strategy by utilizing it to attract and cultivate foreign direct investment for the development of the national economy in all vital sectors, and strengthen Dubai and the UAE’s position as a leading global hub for trade, business and investment.”

Lootah added: “The success of the first edition of Double Up 3M serves as further encouragement for us to continue to launch subsequent sessions, in line with DAFZA’s commitment towards supporting Freezone companies in growing their business and encouraging them to explore growth opportunities and seizing them by adopting a culture of innovation and excellence as an organizational model in their daily operations. We congratulate all the graduates and encourage other companies to follow their lead and pursue higher levels of business excellence and creativity.”

DAFZA’s Double up 3M graduation ceremony was followed by an Innovation workshop. The Innovation Unit is currently preparing for the next round of the Double up 3M program. The DAFZA-tailored Double Up 3M program is administered by Impact Hub Dubai, the local arm of a global network of over 90 similar Hubs spread across six continents providing support for more than 12,000 entrepreneurs worldwide.