UAE startup race moves beyond ‘raise quicker, grow faster’, Sheraa says

Sharjah: In the UAE, startup founders are being pushed to look beyond fast fundraising and rapid growth, with more attention now on whether customers return, whether the numbers add up and whether the business can last.

“Startups used to be all about speed. Raise quicker, grow faster. That was the measure of success. Now it’s deeper than that. We’ve matured as an ecosystem,” said Tayeb Hassan, Community Growth Manager at Sheraa and co-founder of Nafsi Health.

Founders are now asking tougher questions about why customers return, how their economics work and what values sit behind their businesses, Hassan said, describing the shift as part of a wider maturation of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Sharjah and across the UAE.

That change is also reshaping the type of support entrepreneurs need.

Access to information is no longer the constraint it once was. AI tools have made it possible for entrepreneurs to learn new skills and find answers almost immediately, but Hassan said the volume of information available is creating another problem.

Founders increasingly need help deciding what deserves their attention at a particular stage of the business.

“What is the most important thing I can do for my startup right now? What is the most relevant, highest-leverage task I can do to set myself up for success?” he said.

Sheraa’s role, Hassan said, is increasingly centred on helping founders answer that question while connecting them with people and opportunities that can move their businesses forward.

He described access as one of Sharjah’s biggest advantages for entrepreneurs, given the proximity of universities, investors, corporates and other founders within the emirate.

“Entrepreneurship is usually an isolating journey. Founders get lonely,” Hassan said. “The biggest thing that Sharjah offers founders is access.”

Sheraa runs initiatives aimed at entrepreneurs at different stages of their businesses.

Its year-round membership programme provides investor and commercial introductions alongside networking and other forms of support tailored to where a founder is in their journey.

The Access Sharjah Challenge connects startups with procurement opportunities at larger organisations, giving young businesses another route to potential customers and commercial contracts.

Hassan described Sheraa as the “glue” connecting investors, universities, corporates and founders who may otherwise rarely find themselves in the same room.

“Sheraa’s role is to shorten that distance for founders, between founders and their next opportunity,” he said.

The Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival takes that approach to a larger scale by bringing founders, investors, speakers and established entrepreneurs together.

Sheraa’s membership also spans people who are only beginning to explore entrepreneurship through to founders who have operated companies for years, giving participants an opportunity to learn from businesses at different stages.

The ecosystem was tested during recent regional disruption, when some businesses saw revenues disappear while others faced products stuck at ports, storage charges and wider supply chain problems.

Hassan said many of the companies affected had otherwise been stable businesses that had done everything expected of them before conditions changed abruptly.

Sheraa responded through its Entrepreneurship Resilience Fund, bringing together monetary grants, marketing support and exposure opportunities intended to help affected businesses regain stability.

“We thought it was almost a duty for us to step up and provide them with the support they needed at that time, as quickly as we could,” Hassan said.

More than 22 partners became involved in the initiative.

The disruption also showed the role local businesses could play when international connectivity and supply chains were affected, with UAE-based founders and manufacturers stepping in to address gaps.

Manufacturing is among the sectors where Hassan sees further opportunity in Sharjah, alongside healthcare, agriculture and sustainability.

Technology and AI are also expected to play an increasingly important role across industries, with Hassan saying they should be embedded across sectors instead of treated purely as standalone areas.

Local manufacturing became particularly important during regional disruption, when businesses in Sharjah helped fill supply chain gaps.

Agriculture is another area Hassan highlighted, alongside sustainability, which he said has long been a focus for Sheraa.

Hassan said Sharjah’s proposition for founders ultimately comes back to access and community.

Entrepreneurs often make location decisions based on cost and other practical considerations, but he said the longer-term question is where a company can continue to build and scale.

“Community equals continuity, equals feedback, equals growth,” Hassan said.

The support can become particularly important when founders hit difficult periods and need guidance from people who have already faced similar decisions.

Sheraa is working towards a 2030 vision that includes supporting 1,000 entrepreneurs.

Hassan said the longer-term aim is to create businesses that grow within the ecosystem and later return as investors, mentors, or supporters of the next generation.