Dubai: Gitex Technology Week, the most influential technology exhibitions of its kind in the Middle East, is set to attract more than 100,000 visitors from more than 70 countries which will be showcasing the latest in technological innovation.
The five-day event is to be held at Dubai World Trade Centre from Sunday.
In line with Gitex 2017’s theme — “Reimagining Realities”, the event will focus on start-ups as Dubai continues to grow as the entrepreneurial powerhouse of the Mena region.
The event — Gitex Future Stars — will bring the over 700 entrepreneurs and innovators from across 75 countries to showcase ground-breaking ideas and engage with over 250 of the world’s most influential investors and venture capitalists to help shape the future of a growing ecosystem of innovation, entrepreneurship and collaboration.
Wamda Research Labs estimates that early stage companies raised over $800 million (Dh2.9 billion) in 2016 and as Dubai continues to attract attention from leading investors and venture capitalists, looking to tap into emerging growth opportunities across the frontier markets of the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The start-up event will feature an exciting line-up of speakers representing different facets of an increasingly global start-up community like New York-based entrepreneur, musician and technologist, Benji Rogers, who pioneered the direct artist-to-fan distribution model through Pledge Music and Dot Blockchain Music Project, Serial entrepreneur Bay McLaughlin, co-founder of Brinc, a global IoT accelerator and platform based in Hong Kong and Patrick Grove, Co-founder & Group CEO of Catcha Group/co-founder & Chairman of iflix, one of the fastest-growing and leading Streaming Video on Demand (SVoD) for emerging markets.
Opportunity to network
As annual investment in start-ups in the Mena region fast approaches $1 billion, the event brings the world’s leading angel investors and venture capitalists, with an estimated $11 billion in combined managed funds to the UAE.
Start-ups and entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to network with and learn from renowned Silicon Valley investors like Sean O’Sullivan, Founder of SOSV Ventures, Sarah Cone, Founder of Social Impact Capital and Sunny Dhillon, founder of Signia Ventures Capital; to inspirational champions.
“Gitex Future Stars is a key event for tapping into the pulse of innovation and entrepreneurship in the dynamic Middle East. As one of the top two or three most active seed investors in the world, SOSV is constantly benchmarking the very best start-ups from all over the planet,” said Sean O’Sullivan, founder of SOSV Ventures.
He said the event offers a fantastic opportunity to meet with hundreds of young entrepreneurs, network with other investors, exchange best practice and insights with thought-leaders and prospective partners, all of which is crucial to help develop and expand vibrant start-up ecosystems and help our start-ups go further and faster.
In a regional first, Gitex Future Stars will also feature a dedicated corporate buyers’ programme in partnership with Wamda, the leading platform for entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa, to drive effective collaboration between start-ups and large corporate institutions. The program is designed to explore how start-ups can help companies solve significant business challenges with the goal of winning a partnership with a major tech company.
Prizes
Designed to extend a whole host of opportunities for entrepreneurs with their eye on the prize, it will also feature a series of targeted competitions offering a total value of over Dh1 million in prizes for start-ups, from pitch competitions offering $180,000 in prize money to dedicated competitions run in partnership with Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), VISA, Alibaba and NAMA aimed at stimulating entrepreneurship and innovation across key innovation sectors; the event extends a host of winning opportunities.
“Dubai is rocketing up the innovation charts and gaining worldwide attention for implementing next-generation technology to drive socioeconomic development, enhance economic diversification and boost happiness and satisfaction for the wider community. Gitex Future Stars is ground zero for innovation, cross-border knowledge transfer and learning,” said Trixie LohMirmand, Senior Vice-President, Exhibitions and Events Management at DWTC, organisers of the event.
She said that Dubai has long been the epicentre of business in the region, and we invite the world to be inspired by a buzzing community of techpreneurs ready to turn challenges into opportunities and dreams into reality.
The start-up event is designed to encourage and nurture the existing spirit of enterprise and will extend an impressive profile of start-ups, showcasing innovation in AR, VR, gaming, education, fintech, health care, IoT, robotics, smart cities, transport & logistics, and travel and tourism, in addition to, a dedicated track featuring the Creative Economy’s most inspired entrepreneurs and enthusiasts to transform the creative industry.
The event will begin with a keynote from Dr Werner Vogels, Chief Technology Officer of Amazon.com the largest internet company by revenue in the world. He will discuss how Amazon progressed from a start-up in 1994 to the fourth largest employer and the world and the future they imagine.
New exhibitors
Also taking the stage will be surgeon Shafi Ahmad, who used VR to broadcast a live surgery to over 54 million viewers; Ben Silverman, former Chairman of NBC and creator of the hit TV show Planet of the Apps and; Erik Mendelson and Grammy Award-winning producer Winston “DJ Blackout” Thomas, co-founders of blockchain music production firm RecordGram and winners of TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield.
Spread across a space of over 1.4 million square feet, the new exhibitors for this year are Google, Amazon Web Services, Alibaba, Wipro, Toshiba, Xerox, Canon, Blackberry/TCL, Software AG, Mimecast, Pelco by Schneider and Emirates Digital Wallet.
The UAE is fielding a strong team at Gitex. Around 150 entities from Dubai Government, including more than 42 government and private institutions under Smart Dubai, 48 departments from Sharjah while DED-Ajman is set to unveil 13 new e-services during its participation.
New participating countries are Finland, Georgia, Guatemala, Luxembourg and Syria.
Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) of India is once again ensuring Indian participation in a big way with 50 companies taking part.
“ESC has been facilitating Indian participation on a regular basis to take advantage of the booming IT market in the Gulf and leveraging that association for getting businesses for Indian IT companies from multitude of large global corporations, which are executing projects in the region,” says Kamal Vachani, Regional Director for Middle East at ESC.
