Young guns: Democamp Series 2011
The build up to the first edition of DIC’s DemoCamp Series 2011 saw an abundance of applications. The first round of contenders took to the stage on April 27th at the American University of Dubai, pitching innovative ideas ranging from online streamlined insurance quotes to placing food orders using BlackBerry devices.
The first of the DemoCamp 2011 series, an annual initiative spearheaded by Dubai Internet City (DIC) in the region, took place on 27th April, where tech entrepreneurs, students, professionals and engineers demonstrated their innovative concepts to an audience of investors and venture capitalists.
Dubai Internet City had received 40 submissions for evaluation in the lead up to the event. Applicants were screened by a panel of industry experts, including the organisers and business partners of DIC. During the event, shortlisted applicants demonstrated their product and highlighted its market opportunity, stage of corporate development, and identified the competitors. Demonstrations also conveyed working software, hardware, network services and other features.
The day-long session also witnessed the presentation of Ziad Matar, Director, Business Development, Qualcomm. The jury panel included Tariq Al-Asiri, General Manager at Argaam Business Info, Ronnie Mouchawar, CEO of Souq.com, and Imad Choucair, CIO TECOM Investments who shortlisted the eight demonstrations.
These young entrepreneurs and innovators also had support from mentors like Husni Elassi, CEO, CircleCom, Piero Ricotti, Managing Director, Sirti and Shadi Banna managing partner at SME revolution program Potential.
Majed Al Suwaidi, Director Business Development from Dubai Internet City and Dubai Outsource Zone highlighted the growing relevance of this ongoing initiative from the ICT cluster, he said, “DIC has been supporting these entrepreneurs by organising events like DemoCamp and will continue to do so on various platforms this year. It is important for us to get these young companies and students in the limelight and get them ready to face a global audience,” he said.
“The presentations held at DemoCamp are a prime example of the increasing population of innovators and entrepreneurs in the region,” he said.
Applications on display at the event targeted various sectors like retail, hospitality, insurance and travel, utilising new age platforms like social media.
Retail therapy, is no longer limited to just window shopping according to innovators like Ritesh Tilani, CEO, CareZone and founder of an innovative revolutionary platform that allows consumers to identify brands that care, contribute to their favourite causes, and at the same time, earn rewards for themselves.
Tilani made a very interesting presentation on this pioneering location based mobile application.
“The experience was wonderful as I was able to present this state-of-the-art technology in front of an audience that consisted of experts from the industry as well as potential investors. This gave our company a chance to grow and set a step into global market,” pointed out Tilani.
Tilani was one among eight presenters, who were able to showcase their pioneering technology solutions.
FoodLounge Application demonstrated how users can place food orders to restaurants, cafes and fast foods using their BlackBerry device and also be able to track the location of the delivery person. Mahdi Hosseni, founder of Fortune Bekee, pointed out:
“The application will also have a social network that helps users keep in touch and updated on their favourite restaurants. At the same time, restaurants will also be able to reach out to their target audience.”
Toosal, another online travel application, presented by Rami Farah, is a travel search and comparison site that focuses only on low cost carriers in the Middle East. “We wanted to help our clients find the best fare from one panel rather than searching all the sites individually. The information on the site is helpful as it compares prices and informs on schemes from different airlines.”
Supporters of the event included the American University of Dubai, Interactive Middle East, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) and SME Advisor Middle East.
Other demos presented included:
Name of the application – JoyFit
A BlackBerry mobile phone fitness application that live tracks friends, shares routes, computing calories burnt and virtual world elements using BlackBerry WebWorks development kit.
Presenter
Yassine Benmosbah, American University of Dubai
Name of the application – WhoaWee.com
Virtual world with online gaming and social networking, this is also one of the biggest Arabic/English MMOG with 16 virtual worlds
Presenter
Sudhir Halankar, Creative Director, Hi-Tech People
Name of the application- Whizle
Here the application is a combination of project and work management.
Presenter
Nick Nice, Sales Director, Webology
Name of the application – Pricefinder
Pricefinder is a website where one can receive custom-made quotes for insurance or loans or any product supported by the company. With each form filled, five or more partners associated with the company will come back with a quote providing variety of options to the customer.
Presenter
Michael Andersen, Managing Director, Pricefinder
Name of the application – myfacecut.com
This application shares data based on personality and using the social network.
