#UAE
13 posts
Nomad Homes: Harnessing Innovation and Perseverance in the Gulf’s Proptech
The Gulf is witnessing an extraordinary surge in proptech initiatives, which is redefining the traditional real estate landscape to a more efficient, transparent, and user-friendly framework. This past decade, we have seen this sector mature from its nascent phase of digitized listings to its current zenith, powered by emerging technologies including AI and VR. Within this rapidly expanding sector in the Gulf, proptech pioneers like Nomad Homes are embracing disruptive technologies that give them an edge in the global real […]
AstroLabs and Australian Fintech Innovator, Lakeba Group Join Forces to Shape the Future of Technology
Dubai, 6th November – In a global collaboration, Australian company Lakeba Group, and AstroLabs, a leading business expansion platform in the Gulf, have joined forces to usher in a new era of AI and technology innovation in the region. The partnership comes at a crucial juncture as the tech industry rapidly transforms industries and economies, with AI and machine learning offering unprecedented opportunities for growth and innovation across the globe. Lakeba is a global venture studio with a track record […]
Majid Al Futtaim Announces Second Edition of its Launchpad Programme in Partnership with AstroLabs, Microsoft and DIFC Launchpad
Dubai, UAE – 16 May 2023: Majid Al Futtaim, the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, today launched the second edition of its Launchpad programme – part of Xsight Future Solutions business, Majid Al Futtaim’s newly formed business aimed at accelerating the company’s digital offerings and empowering partners with scalable, end-to-end digital services, products, and solutions. Majid Al Futtaim’s Launchpad strives to unlock value by partnering with and investing in innovative […]
Growth Never Sleeps: MENA’s Ecosystem lunge to new avenues
For over a decade, major players in the UAE have been laying the groundwork for a dynamic tech and business ecosystem. With new frameworks, a skilled talent pool, and abundant funding, MENA’s ecosystem is ready to take the leap into a new decade of innovation. It is hard to imagine a time where the digital solutions we have grown accustomed to did not exist. E-commerce, fintech service, and e-logistics, just to name a few, have become an integral aspect of […]
Celebrating 10 Years of Pioneers: Trella, on setting up, branching out, and giving back
Contributed by: Peter May, Regional General Manager of Trella As we close in on our tenth year of ecosystem building in the MENA region, we are celebrating the wins of the AstroLabs community. Today we sit down with Peter May, the Regional General Manager at Trella, as he reflects on Trella’s journey from its inception until now, and contemplates its future endeavors. When you are a newly established logistics company trying to enter the competitive UAE market, you face a […]
Celebrating 10 years of Pioneers: el Grocer, on the power of long-lasting relationships
Contributed by: Nader Amiri, founder of el Grocer “MENA, especially UAE, is a great place to start, and the pandemic proved that. No one did better than the UAE in turning a global problem into an opportunity. The vision, the determination, the openness to ideas, action orientation, and risk-taking: we see this nowhere else in the world.” They say, “you can’t predict the future. You have to create it.” There are certainly trends to follow, but ultimately it is about […]
The 2022 Wrap-Up: MENA Trials and Prospects
We sum up some of our major themes and stories of last year, as opportunities for reflection heading into the new one: The year 2022 was filled with unequivocal lessons and unexplored potential around MENA’s innovation and entrepreneurial worlds. Naturally, emerging markets are positioned to bear the ripple effects of changes happening on a global front and strenuous economic conditions. However, certain intricacies in the makings of MENA allowed many sectors and businesses to take leading and rather pioneering roles […]
DMCC to Advance MENA Region’s USD 1.8 Billion Gaming Industry Through the Launch of the DMCC Gaming Centre
DMCC – the world’s flagship free zone and Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise – has announced the launch of the DMCC Gaming Centre in support of the increasingly growing global and regional video games industry. Currently standing at USD 1.8 billion, revenues generated by the gaming industry in the MENA region are expected to reach USD 5 billion by 2025. Launched during the Dubai Esports Festival, the DMCC Gaming Centre formalises DMCC’s efforts in the gaming […]
Tech Winter: Tech layoffs, the great resignation, and other tells for changing course
What was supposed to be a big year for tech has morphed into a downward spiral, and the question remains: could there be a silver lining? “Everyone should be laying people off,” explained venture capitalist and previous managing partner at SoftBank Latin America, Shu Nyatta, to online research publisher ‘Rest of World’. SoftBank, the investment giant known for raking the biggest stakes in the highest-valued investments of 2021, announced a loss of almost $20Bn to its Vision Fund earlier this year. The […]
AstroLabs and the Italian Trade Agency partner to launch the UAE edition of the Global Startup Program
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: AstroLabs and the Italian Trade Agency, the government agency which promotes the globalization of Italian firms under the aegis of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have partnered to launch the 2nd edition of the Global Startup Program in the UAE. The program will support the business acceleration and expansion of 12 technology-enabled Italian startups to the UAE, as a launchpad for expansion into MENA and beyond. For the 2022 edition of the Global Startup Program, AstroLabs is […]
Corporate Entrepreneurship in MENA: From CSR to Open Innovation
Contributed by: Roland Daher, AstroLabs CEO I vividly remember when Wamda coined the term Corporate Entrepreneurship Responsibility in 2013 and launched the CER movement in MENA ( Corporate Entre- a fairly visionary and advanced proposition for the emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem back then. Although some early adopters (Aramex, GE, etc…) ran promising innovation programs, a decade ago working with startups or supporting the ecosystem was a show of “goodwill” rather than a business imperative for large enterprises. In its nascent stages, innovation programs […]
How to Instill a Data Culture in Your SaaS Team: Takeaways with Nybl
Data is everywhere, and for an entrepreneurial mindset, it is also everything: from session entries and visit frequencies, to profit margins and operational capacities, each activity carries its own data set across the multiple touch points of the value chain. Over the past decade, a core focus for businesses across the globe has been to properly source and leverage this extensive data in favor of their growth strategies and product engineering. The evolution of data sourcing and analytics, hence, has […]