Sharjah Startup Studio launched to develop new startups

Sharjah - UAE’s first government-backed startup studio will take startups from idea to company, and position them to power the nation’s digital transformation

The Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa) has launched its latest program, the Sharjah Startup Studio (S3), designed to build enduring businesses that will accelerate the region’s digital transformation and contribute to the growth of the non-oil economy in the UAE.

The first government-backed startup studio in the UAE will go beyond the traditional method of education-based programs, taking a more hands-on approach to venture building. S3 will dedicate a team of experienced experts to work alongside founders, and will get actively and operationally involved in the co-creation of their startups.

“The launch of Sharjah Startup Studio is a watershed moment not just for Sheraa, but for the ecosystem as a whole,” said Najla Al Midfa, chief executive of Sheraa.

She said the new initiative represents a turning point in the role accelerators must play to support startups, not only ensuring they provide founders with the best possible foundation to launch their business, but also build it alongside them.

She said S3 marks an essentially transformative era for the startup community in the region, especially in the midst of an unstable funding ecosystem that continues to affect founders and their abilities to gain access to key resources to jumpstart their startups.

“Through our startup studio, we can now help founders build and launch sustainable, successful and profitable businesses. By taking all the lessons we have learned over the last five years, including the turbulent challenges of the pandemic last year, S3 is the answer to how a founder can finally harness the full opportunity of becoming a key stakeholder to UAE’s economic growth and diversification,” she said.

Home-grown entrepreneurial

The studio model lays the foundation for home-grown entrepreneurial success by working with founders from the earliest stages of their startup journey, helping them to validate their idea and determine whether to take it to market. In addition to extensive market research, this will involve the participation and feedback of relevant S3 corporate and government partners to ensure that pertinent problems are being solved, and to evaluate the proposed solution.

Concepts deemed viable will receive technical and financial resources from the S3 ecosystem to build and launch the product. The deep engagement with startups continues beyond graduation, with S3 leveraging its extensive market access to support startups with customer acquisition, and helping them integrate into local and global supply chains.

Revenue-sharing model

In keeping with Sheraa’s ‘founder-first’ philosophy, S3 is the first startup studio in the region to use a revenue-sharing model, with founders retaining full ownership of their businesses. This model provides founders with $30,000 in preseed funding and allows them to focus on building a high-quality product, achieving sustainable growth and profitability, while also creating impact.

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com