With the morning sun on the horizon and temperatures on the rise, the Rochester-Bern alumni group starts off to day 3 of our journey through Dubai.
Today is all about the future and transformation. We start with the visit of the Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus (Dtec) at Silicon Oasis. After a short walk through the campus, where start-ups and small tech companies can find co.-working space or small office space for lease, we are heading into the largest meeting room to receive inputs about how the government tries to bring Dubai to the start-up map, how the start-ups in the region work cluster and how financing is achieved. While the incubator with its financing partner usually takes up to 6% equity of the 4 times 1o start-ups per cohort, the founders then receive aid and support in bringing their idea to a next level. This often ends with financing. We also learnt that financing rounds tend to be in a lower range compared to the American Silicon Valley. Two start-ups then presented their idea:
Catchway, a web-based website and app software that makes it easier to get one solution for your web experience and
Freesigners, a designer marketplace for small designers from all over the place.
Both founders, joined us for lunch to extend. A big thank you to the Dtec team for having us!
Excited by the start-spirit of a yet still very small cluster in Dubai (again, they have their own free zone they operate in), we head on to the Emirates next mega project – the Expo2020. Dubai is to host the next world exhibition and are therefore building an enormous city somewhat further away from the city. In the middle of the desert, huge building complexes are built. I a short presentation, our hosts show us the concept to build and run the show in 2020. It is amazing to see how much they still have to build, but everyone is very sure this will all be done. Maybe this should be worth a visit in 2020 again – together with the expected other 25 million tourists that are expected to visit.
Our next transfer brings us through the heavily secured gates of Dubai South in to Jafza Logistic City (the cargo and transit area) to DSV/Panalpina. After a short introduction of the current business model (not only storage, but also assembly and repairs for other brands), the Logistics Manager takes us on a walking tour to discover parts of the 10000m2 warehouse space sharing his hands-on expertise. A large amount of cargo is going through the Dubai South free zone with the port Jabal Ali on one side and the new (cargo) airport on the other side. This is the perfect spot to ship your goods through in case you want to deliver to UAE or other Arab countries from Europe or Asia.
We close the day with a traditional dinner joint by local Rochester-Bern alumni and discuss the impressions of yet another input-strong day. We look forward to what comes next…
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Expo 2020 site: Building construction to be finished by the end of the year
