Start Alliance steps to Dubai

Berlin startups make new business contacts in the Gulf region

The Start Alliance Network of Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie sees itself as opening doors to the most dynamic and innovative business locations in the world. A delegation from the Berlin economic development agency is now traveling to the desert emirate of Dubai to build bridges to the Middle East and help Berlin startups get a start in the region. From February 8 to 12, fifteen companies from the capital region will join Dr. Stefan Franzke, Managing Director of Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie, on a journey to the metropolis on the Arabian Gulf to learn more about the particularities of doing business there. Another 40 international partners from the Start Alliance Network will join the delegation on site.

Dr. Stefan Franzke, Managing Director, Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie GmbH: "With the Start Alliance delegation trip to Dubai, young companies from Berlin will have the opportunity to get to know the desert metropolis and present their business model there. Like the capital region, the United Arab Emirates are among the most innovative business locations worldwide. Dubai is the traditional trade hub between East Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent. Having a foot in the door there can be a decisive advantage for startups and make their entry into the local market considerably easier. We want to help participants build extensive networks in Dubai, get to know what makes the region so special, and make pitches to potential investors.”

The program in Dubai is primarily aimed at companies that offer innovative, sustainability-oriented services and products from the fields of health management, transport, IT, and aerospace. The participating companies will get to know Dubai as a possible location for future business activities. During the conversations in Dubai, Berlin startups will identify potential economic interfaces, discuss various cultural and legal aspects, and pitch their businesses. Dubai is pursuing a strictly liberal economic policy that has helped the boom in the past decades. Added to this is the high level of political stability that attracts foreign investors. The delegation trip is organized on site by the Start Alliance partner organization Dubai SME. Its goal is to make it easier for small and medium-sized companies to get started in the emirate.

On the third day of the trip, the delegation participants will get to experience a special highlight: the STEP Conference 2020. Some 7,000 visitors, more than 300 exhibitors, and more than 100 company and government representatives are expected to attend the largest tech festival in the Middle East from February 11 to 12. The delegation participants will have the opportunity to present their companies to well-known investors from the region and make new business contacts. They can then end the evening at Start-Up Night Dubai.

The Start Alliance was founded in 2015 on the initiative of Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie. As a program for worldwide networking with other startup cities, young companies from the capital are given the opportunity to enter into new business relationships and venture into international markets. The network includes nine partner cities in addition to Berlin: Paris, Vienna, London, Tel Aviv, New York, Beijing, Shanghai, Warsaw, and Dubai. 250 startups from all over the world are now part of the Start Alliance network.

Further information on the Start Alliance and the delegation trip to Dubai can be found at: www.startalliance.com