Eureka Winners 2023
Eureka Winners 2023 Image Credit: Supplied

Dubai: Eureka! GCC 2024, one of Asia’s largest business model competitions, will select and celebrate winning business start-ups across the GCC, for the $100,000 prize pot on June 4th at the Hilton Al Habtoor City, Dubai, organisers have announced.

The Eureka! GCC 2024 competition continues to provide a vital platform for budding Gulf-based entrepreneurs to showcase their business ideas. According to the media release, this company formation support process strengthens the UAE’s start-up ecosystem, helping entrepreneurs to scale their businesses and creating additional job opportunities in the UAE, in alignment with Dubai’s Economic Agenda D33.

The prestigious Eureka! GCC event, in its third edition, attracted over 300 registrations from the most promising start-ups across the Gulf region. After a thorough evaluation of business plans 30 semi-finalists were shortlisted to receive advanced entrepreneurship training, including customized workshops on efficient business planning and individualized guidance from industry experts.

The judges have now chosen 10 start-ups to vie for the esteemed Eureka! GCC title and a portion of the $100,000 prize pool. The 2024 edition also introduces an Entrepreneurship Summit on the morning of the Grand Finale (4th June), in which finalists showcase their ideas to a larger audience of industry experts and leaders, covering start-up business challenges and the entrepreneurial journey. Other start-up businesses and investors are also invited to attend this Summit.

These ten finalists will present their innovative ideas to a distinguished audience of investors, CEOs, and industry leaders at the Grand Finale that evening. Based on mentors' endorsements and business evaluations, the Eureka! GCC 2024 judges will unveil the award winners, enabling the successful companies to join the Eureka! GCC network of flourishing firms and expanding enterprises.

Pankaj Gupta, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Gulf Islamic Investments group (GII) and Founder of Eureka! GCC, said, “Eureka! GCC is a real game-changer for our region's business growth. Our ongoing partnership shows how much we in GII believe in supporting new ideas, emboldened by the entrepreneurial spirit of Dubai and the GCC. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Dubai government and industry leaders for making this entrepreneurship program such a success."

GII’s associate partners in Eureka! GCC 2024 include iAccel GBI, Crowe UAE, Headstart Its Her Way, Encubay, LaunchShe, and The Synergy Network. These business incubators play a pivotal role in fostering entrepreneurial spirit, enabling and supporting business ventures through mentorship, networking and investment opportunities regionally.

Eureka! GCC 2024 has invited entrepreneurs, investors and start-up companies to join its E-Summit and to interact with the Eureka! GCC finalists at the Habtoor Hilton hotel on June 4, 2024, Tuesday from 9:30am-12:30pm. Entry is by invitation only, through prior registration at https://www.ecell.in/eurekagcc/esummitreg