UAE’s incubator Sheraa launches 2023 edition of Startup Dojo
The eight-week summer intensive training and mentorship programme for young talent will focus on developing entrepreneurial solutions and real-world business experience.
UAE-based incubator Entrepreneurship Center has announced the 2023 edition of the Startup Dojo, a youth incubation programme.
The eight-week summer intensive training and mentorship programme for young talent is focused on developing entrepreneurial solutions and real-world business experience.
This year, Emirati youth made up 81% of the participants in this programme. Last year, startups raised $161 million, an increase of 26%, and generated $247 million in revenue.
According to Najla Al Midfaa, CEO of Sheraa, entrepreneurship is a formative life skill that benefits from early teaching. Sheraa's incubation programme encourages youth to develop creativity, passion, and impact-driven attitudes.
“Each year, we see students coming up with new ideas, demanding new knowledge and skill sets, and expecting bespoke training reflective of fast-changing global trends and market demands. In this sense, Startup Dojo needs to serve the youth as a dynamic mentoring platform that fulfils their aspirations while also teaching them the core and unchanging fundamentals of entrepreneurship,” she added.
The programme will train a cohort of 50 students from various universities in the UAE, representing 16 different teams.
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The top three teams will receive cash prizes and other benefits for venture-building activities.
Sheraa has selected groups that excelled in the previously held Sheraa Sustainability Hackathon 2023 and Sheraa Entrepreneurship Festival (SEF) 2022 to ensure they continue their entrepreneurial journey.
The incubation programme aims to promote diversity and inclusivity with a balanced participant representation. Out of 16 teams, 38% are from the American University of Sharjah (AUS), 31% from the University of Sharjah (UoS), and the remaining 31% represent other regional universities.
The programme also promotes gender equality, with a 50:50 gender split.
In 2023, Startup Genome ranked Sharjah among the top five MENA startups.
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Edited by Kanishk Singh