Sharjah: Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre (Sheraa) has signed a deal with Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone (SPC Free Zone) and Emirates Publishers Association (EPA) to launch ‘Access Sharjah’, a programme to support innovative start-ups from around the world venturing into the publishing and digital content sector.
It comes as part of Sheraa’s mission to support entrepreneurs and start-ups in the publishing and digital content sectors, and in celebration of the ‘Sharjah World Book Capital 2019’ title.
Slated for a March 2020 launch, the programme will help promising start-ups launch their business in Sharjah and help them reach their target market. The best performing start-up will also receive a $100,000 (around Dh367,000) funding to boost its operations.
‘Access Sharjah’ will assist start-ups to connect with stakeholders and potential clients by leveraging Sheraa’s partnership with SPC Free Zone and EPA to tap into the resources of the two entities that have “a long-standing history in supporting the publishing sector”.
The programme will also organise workshops and training sessions for start-ups, in addition to offering them free office space to start their business.
Najla Al Midfa, CEO of Sheraa, said: “The world today is transforming to knowledge-based societies, which require the continuous development of a comprehensive ecosystem that places human capital as a top priority. This requires innovative and creative content, one of the goals of Access Sharjah. The programme is based on the long-term strategic development vision of Sharjah to boost its human capital, build a strong knowledge base and create opportunities in the emirate for start-ups from all over the world.”
Launched in January 2016, Sheraa is a platform that supports entrepreneurs. Since its inception, Sheraa has built a community of over 10,000 entrepreneurs and “ecosystem players”, validated over 300 ideas through the Idea Lab and grown more than 70 start-ups through its programmes. In addition, Sheraa start-ups have generated over $19 million (around Dh69.78 million) in revenue and raised over $14 million (Dh51.42 million) in investment.
