Scaling up in the New Year

We wish you a very happy and prosperous New Year.?

In addition to all the new regulations that come into effect in the New Year, we kickstarted the year’s first newsletter with the announcement of the UAE Ministry of Economy’s?ScaleUp Franchise program?as part of phase II of The Entrepreneurial Nation. The ScaleUp Franchise program, in partnership with Emityz, will provide companies with all legal, operational, and financial services related to international franchising systems to help them attract investors and launch new branches locally and globally.

This week also saw the launch of Dubai SME’s?The Co-Kitchen, the first kitchen incubator under the umbrella of the Dubai Business Incubator Network, with the support of the Hamdan Innovation Incubator. The Co-Kitchen is a new opportunity for F&B start-ups, related home businesses, and investors to expand in this sector, experiment with their new ideas, and access a wide network of accredited incubators and business accelerators in Dubai.

As we start building momentum for a new year, we take a look back at our top five stories of 2022:

1.????In June 2022, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced the?opening of Expo City Dubai?in October 2022. The new city is an ideal smart and futuristic destination for business and innovation, driven by sustainability, innovation, education and entertainment.

2.????July saw the announcement from car-sharing platform,?Motor SHARE, that was offering users short and long-term options at affordable prices. As a part of its mission to reduce the region’s carbon footprint through responsible transportation, the platform will provide access to world-leading electric vehicles through its platform which feature the Tesla Model 3 and soon the Tesla Model Y alongside other leading brands.

3.????Quiqup, a delivery company, also announced in July that it had moved out of the overcrowded food delivery business and focused its efforts solely on?e-commerce last-mile operations, tapping into the exponential growth in e-commerce in the UAE and a $400 billion addressable market across the MENA region.?

4.????In June, we reported on the UAE expecting to attract the largest net inflow of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) globally in 2022, according to the latest?Henley Global Citizens Report, which tracks private wealth and investment migration trends worldwide. The report projected HNWI growth over the next decade, where the number of dollar millionaires and billionaires will increase by 40 percent in the UAE. The Emirate already has 92,600 US-dollar millionaires; 4,000 multi-millionaires worth more than USD 10 million; 251 centi-millionaires (over USD 100 million), and 14 US-dollar billionaires.

5.????In June, Saudi Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) platform,?Tamara, officially expanded?to the UAE. Customers across the Emirates can now split their payments interest-free at leading retailers like Namshi, SHEIN, Styli, Fitness Time, Faces and Swarovski, with hundreds more merchants anticipated to sign up in the coming months.

Do you have your top five announcements from 2022?

Once again we wish you success in the New Year and if you have a story to tell, do share it with us.