Going, going, gone!! Accelerators press the pedal to ignite their programs

Do you remember those days filling up your application to university and hoping you will make it to your beloved college to study your idealized subjects to become engineer, scientist, chemist, physician, psychologist, mathematician, IT specialist…? Something like that, but a few years later –if not one decade- are the feelings for entrepreneurs waiting to see if their applications are accepted at the different incubators / accelerator programs in the UAE.

Just to name a few of them, in Dubai at least 600 teams of entrepreneurs are waiting the beginning of December to get notified if they make it to the Techstars Dubai, whose concentration in smart cities (transportation, construction, wellness, IoT, robotics, & beyond) attract inventors from all over the world. Only ten teams will start the program in January 18 and will pitch on April 21. Techstars partnered with GINCO to cover life cycle from concept to execution.

StartAD, the NYU incubator, offers the Hardware Venture Launchpad, an intensive 10-day program on 4-13 December. The program is opened to entrepreneurs looking to solve a problem by using IoT, robotics, VR/AR, BlockChain, AI, drones, sensors & wearables, 3D printing, and telematics,  on different fields: clean tech, electronics, med tech, aviation, ports management, car monitoring, etcetera. Early-stage hardware startups will have the chance to refine their prototypes and learn the basics about business management before pitching to investors and the UAE startup community. StartAD offers to the ten selected startups access to Al Warsha, a prototyping facility, as well as access to partners´ prototyping labs in China and connections to manufacturing sources.

Waiting time countdown is done for the ten startups already selected at Startupbootcamp Dubai. The teams have presented projects on IoT & Connectivity, Open City Data, Urban Automation & Mobility, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Sustainable Cities & Living, Smart Government, Smart Retail, and they will sharpen their possibilities in a 3+3 month program starting in November 26, and pitching on February 28.