Emirates and Sheraa sign MOU to strengthen and expand the entrepreneurship ecosystem
Emirates has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa) to strengthen and expand the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the UAE.
The agreement makes Emirates an official Strategic Partner of Sheraa, offering discounted fares to and from its network of over 90 destinations for the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival and startups relocating to the UAE through Sheraa's global soft-landing offering that provides an incentive package to facilitate entry for tech startups.
As a part of the understanding between both organisations, Emirates will work alongside Sheraa as a Strategic Partner, both locally and across its international roadshows and events that aim to attract startups from across the world to the UAE. The partnership will also enable greater access to market opportunities for startups through supplier day engagements.
Speaking on the significance of the partnership, Najla Al Midfa, CEO of Sheraa, said, "We are pleased to welcome Emirates Airline as a Strategic Partner, opening up new avenues for collaboration across UAE's entrepreneurial ecosystem. This partnership reflects our belief that corporate stakeholders play a critical role in establishing Sharjah as a thriving entrepreneurship hub, by enabling innovation and supporting tech startups that can accelerate economic growth and diversification. Sheraa's community of enterprising founders will be able to capitalise on this exciting partnership to unlock access to global opportunities and scale their businesses to new heights."
Emirates has been supporting Dubai and the wider UAE's innovation ecosystem to support young entrepreneurs and students since 2016, when it partnered with GE with and Etisalat to launch Intelak. Today Intelak includes a joint incubator, and Intelak hub, and both have served to create an innovative pipeline of ideas and initiatives for the travel and aviation industry in Dubai.
Since its inception, Sheraa has successfully supported 114 startups that have gone on to generate over $125 million in revenue, raise over $74 million in investment and create over 1,300 jobs. Sheraa recently launched the UAE's first government-backed startup studio, Sharjah Startup Studio (S3), to support ventures that are profitable, sustainable and solving real problems in the world. S3 goes beyond the traditional method of education-based programs, dedicating a team of experienced experts to work alongside founders and getting actively and operationally involved in the co-creation of their startups.
