Startups All Set To Take Center Stage At 10th Annual Investment Meeting In Dubai

Startups from across the world are all geared up to take the center stage at the 10^th Annual Investment Meeting (AIM), an initiative of the UAE Ministry of Economy that is set to be staged from March 29 to 31, 2022 at the Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo 2020 Dubai.

AIM 2022 will put the spotlight on startups as part of the conference’s six multifaceted pillars. This is in recognition of their role in bolstering investment activities, strengthening new industries and coming up with innovative ideas. The Startup Pillar will focus on opportunities in the sector alongside challenges facing many startup owners today. It is mainly designed to help investors to nurture early-stage venture capital or seed funding to start a business.

The meeting will also emphasize how the startup community continues to make a mark worldwide simultaneous with the nonstop technological innovations and emergence of intelligent tools. Available online figures show that the value of 475 ‘unicorns,’ or high-valued startups, in the world amounted to USD 1.394 trillion combined in 2020 alone. In the UAE, a major prominent of entrepreneurship and innovation, the government bids to become home to 20 unicorns worth USD 1 billion each by 2031.

Many startups can offer promising and innovative business models with a potential to reshape the future of global business. It is for this reason that AIM offers an ideal platform where they can connect with prospective partners and investors and take key steps towards success. This pillar will help keen investors who are looking for new avenues and projects for investments in sustainable and innovative development, as well as governments that are scouting for startup projects with immense economic benefits.

Under the Startup Pillar, AIM will feature pre-conference workshops, panel discussions and dialogues with global leaders to shed light on sustainable investments, outline startup methodologies and focus on accelerators and incubators. The learning and networking sessions at AIM will help lay the groundwork for their success.

The areas of discussion will include the proper application of the ‘Lean Startup Methodology’ vital to addressing customer needs and reducing failure rate, in addition to the implementation of a dynamic risk mitigation approach.

This year’s AIM will also feature a startup pitch competition. A shortlist of startups will be eligible to pitch their business projects to a panel of judges who are experts in the fields of entrepreneurship, technology and business management. Winning startups will gain the opportunity to be mentored by industry experts and maximize their potential to attract funding for their business.

AIM has been one of the most exclusive investment gatherings in the world, bringing together prominent political, economic, financial, and academic figures. To be held under the theme ‘Investments in Sustainable Innovation for a Thriving Future,’ the 2022 edition will see the participation of distinguished dignitaries, heads of state, key policymakers and investors.

Besides the Startup Pillar, the other pillars are Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Small and Medium Enterprises, Future Cities, Foreign Portfolio Investment and the 50 Projects initiative.