BrazilSia Partners selected as strategic partner for UAE entrepreneurial event
The entrepreneurial support platform Pitch@Palace has appointed global management firm Sia Partners as a strategic partner for its event in the Emirates.
Established by Prince Andrew of the British royal family, the Pitch@Palace initiative seeks to support budding entrepreneurs through a series of international networking opportunities, allowing aspirational innovators across the globe access to business investors, mentors and movers and shakers in an effort to accelerate their business endeavours.
Supported by the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, and now in its second edition, the Pitch@Palace event in the UAE this year will run in conjunction with an inaugural GCC-wide event, with the winners ultimately invited to pitch at St. James’s Palace in the UK. This year’s regional theme is ‘Technology Serving Humans’, and, fittingly, the global management firm and Consulting 4.0 proponents Sia Partners have been appointed as a strategic partner.
Fresh from hosting an artificial intelligence conference in the UAE in recent months with 60 business executives and technology specialists in attendance – which covered the implications of the technology and concerns for the human dimension – Sia Partners will now support the Pitch@Palace programme as it embarks on a regional roadshow, taking in events and bootcamps in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah during the month of September. Final pitches will be held at the Emirates Palace in October.
For the last UAE edition, the triumphant winners were medication management app Dwak App, developed by Mansour Al Kaabi, and Brailleye, an aid for the visually impaired designed by Faraj Al Faraj. Al Kaabi says of the impact on his business; “Prior to the participation in the competition, I was planning on a slow roll-out of the application. However, after witnessing the overwhelming response garnered by the app during Pitch@Palace, I am now planning a nationwide expansion within months."
“It's a strategic launchpad that guides, helps and connects promising entrepreneurs with potential supporters, businessmen, and executive heads of prestigious companies,” Al Faraj says of his experience with the event. “My participation in the competition allowed me to learn a lot, offering me the valuable opportunity to communicate with different participants to share ideas with each other… The best advice I can probably share is to not be afraid of pitching your idea and believe in yourself.”
According to figures from the organisation, Pitch@Palace has now supported more than 650 entrepreneurs from over 50 countries since its launch in 2014, generating £600 million-plus in economic activity and creating in excess of 2,300 jobs. Rafael Lemaitre, Partner with Sia Partners in the Middle East – which has offices in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai along with Doha and Riyadh – said of the firm’s selection; “We are happy to be appointed as one of the strategic partners of pitch@palace in the UAE, supporting entrepreneurs to innovate and accelerate growth.”
