Christos Dimas: Contacts in Dubai for VCs and hubs

The exploitation of the technology and innovation sector opens the way for the extroversion of the Greek economy and is a strategic target for the Hellenic Company Enterprise Greece. These sectors are the cutting edge of the Greek presence at Expo 2020 Dubai, where Greece participates under the slogan “Greece Tomorrow, Today” and promotes its competitive advantages that put it back on the investment map.

At the Global Innovation Forum, which takes place in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, the competent Deputy Minister of Development, Christos Dimas, is with the Greek delegation. In Dubai, he met with the Minister of State of the Arab country, responsible for Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi and the Deputy Minister of Industry and Advanced Technologies Omar Al Suwaidi, in order to cooperate on research and innovation issues. The aim is to connect the country’s Startups with private and investment bodies that will support the opening of all of them to the global market.

Starting from Expo 2020 Dubai, the Greek delegation visited one of the global centers of technological “miracles”, especially in the construction and tourism sector, such as Dubai on the subject of “Elevating Science, Technology & Innovation“, while at the same time he visited the Incubator Building in Masdar City in the greater Abu Dhabi zone. It is a technology hub that connects research with science and business with investment, as he wrote in a twitter post.

In Abu Dhabi, Chr. Dimas contacted HAE’s sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala, which is supported by the government of Abu Dhabi and specifically Mohammed bin Zayed. This investment firm manages a diverse portfolio of assets and investments in the United Arab Emirates and abroad to create sustainable economic returns for its main shareholder, the government of Abu Dhabi while at the same time partnering at the cutting edge of global growth and innovation to create opportunities for future generations.

The fund raises a sum of 243 billion dollars with the financial company operating on 6 continents and various sectors, maintaining offices in London, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, New York, San Francisco and Beijing, as it has invested in over 50 countries, while its investment focus is also on ESG strategy. The sectors it supports include renewable energy, real estate, infrastructure, mines, oil, pharmaceuticals, medicine, agricultural industry, aerospace and information and communication technologies among others.

ADQ is the second investment power which Chr. Dimas contacted, which is also one of the largest providers for funding in the UAE. The development company brings together one of the city’s most dynamic, transformative and ambitious businesses through direct and indirect investments in key sectors of the Emirate’s economy.

The Abu Dhabi government is a shareholder with the aim of accelerating sustainable development for future generations. The company works in strategic market sectors such as sustainable energy, healthcare, mobility and logistics.

As a holding company, it equips the ecosystem with the necessary know-how in its entirety in combination with the exploitation of commercial and economic opportunities, while it expands the level of innovation for companies, the administrative structures of which it guarantees for their suitability, in order to achieve the business goals set, ensuring that the funds are as effective as the strategies.

The company, however, emphasizes on businesses that can have a positive impact in Abu Dhabi, since it is interested in synergies by prioritising projects of greater value for the UAE capital again with an ESG character and an imprint on society and the environment based on relevant factors.

The international accelarator Hub71

On his list of contacts was the business accelerator, Hub71 which is a symbiosis environment for Startups, businesses, investors and government bodies. The accelarator is located in the heart of Abu Dhabi but operates as a global tech ecosystem with partnerships with Microsoft and Softbank.

Hub71 is also the key driver of the Ghadan 21 program and a catalyst for Abu Dhabi’s digital transformation, as it offers a range of international training programs that offer incentives and corporate commitment to support the community.In addition, it alleviates the cost of installing and living the Startups that will be transferred to their scaling up in Abu Dhabi, providing a global interface with multinational partners to access capital and market opportunities through a pool of investors looking to support dynamic Startups.

The hub runs programs such as the new Venture Lab with the support of Modus Capital to co-create Startups, securing 80 million dollars funding from Modus’ VC and increasing market access to Abu Dhabi.

These include The Outliers where Startups can benefit with over 400,000 dollars, Incentive to cover all the accommodation and workplace expenses of Startups that will express interest, and Corporate Engagement – a program that brings Startups to large companies to transform their industry and find solutions to the industry’s key problems.

The above contacts expand the chances of domestic Startups to go outwards and have a further impact on their work, without having to search themselves, acquiring such an opportunity through Elevate Greece and its dimensions in terms of extroversion.