4 WAYS TO GET FUNDING FOR YOUR START-UP

With its reputation for promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, the United Arab Emirates is an enviable location to set up your business. But, setting up a business requires a substantial amount of funding. As a fresh business, you are considered a high-risk business and it’s difficult to get banks to invest in your world-wide. Hence, opportunities that make funding from equity lenders possible are important. By equity lenders, in this case, I am referring to Angel investors, incubator funding, venture capitalists and other private equity lenders. Ripe opportunities to connect such lenders in the UAE might just be another reason for you to consider setting up your business in the UAE.

There is an investor forum in Dubai that is held monthly. (See: Dubai Investment Forum) The forum accepts six entrepreneurs each month and brings these entrepreneurs together with venture capitalists and angel investors. The six entrepreneurs pay a presentation fee to get a 30-minute block of time for a presentation in front of the investors. However, prior to the event, entrepreneurs get 6 1-hour sessions and it also facilitates private meetings with interested investors afterward (Source: Startup Central).

The emirate of Dubai also has a lot of accelerators and incubators. The number of accelerators ad incubators are even increasing. In most cases, if your application to an incubator in Dubai is accepted you receive some seed money, physical office space, mentorship, business development training and at least one demo day when the program is over. Many incubators can be found in Emirates Towers in Business Bay for example.

In addition to this, there are websites that provide full lists of angel investors in the UAE. Finding an investor to pitch your business to is as easy as visiting this link: Angel List, and looking for investors that are interested in businesses like yours. You can select preferences; for example, you can choose to find investors who reside in Dubai and who are interested in Dubai. There are currently 5650 interested in investing in Dubai right now: [picture] By simply creating an account, you can connect with the Angel Investor who might be the right fit for your business. Another good source to consult for Angel Investors is the consulting company, Envestors.

There are also a lot of local venture capital firms in the country. The biggest player in the region is probably the Carlyle Group (You can reach them at P +971 4 427 5600 or visit their webpage at Carlyle Group). Getting in contact with any of these firms could help you find the funding you are looking for.

These investment opportunities are open for entrepreneurs who have set up in the UAE. It is important to note that the process of acquiring funding requires that you do the research that helps you find the best avenue to getting the funding you need to support your business.