Mr. Shaker Zainal and Mr. Abdulla Balalaa during the signing ceremony
Abu Dhabi-based Masdar City, one of the world’s most sustainable urban communities, has formed a strategic partnership with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund (MBRIF) to stimulate entrepreneurship and economic development in the UAE and globally.
MBRIF’s partnership with Masdar City will extend support to innovative SMEs, while also sharing industry knowledge and collaborating to develop the entrepreneurship ecosystem at home and abroad. The MBRIF Guarantee Scheme and Innovation Accelerator will be another pillar of the partnership, supporting Masdar City’s SME growth activities.
The partnership will also include development efforts from post-ideation to scale up, as well as provide domain knowledge and expertise on funding to entrepreneurs interested in the Guarantee Scheme. Both entities will also be able to leverage each other’s human resources, facilities, and technology to an extent.
Abdulla Balalaa Executive Director – Masdar City
“Our partnership with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund is another step – and a hugely valuable one – on that growth path. It is our aim to not only cultivate entrepreneurship and economic development in the UAE and further afield but drive it and further it through the immense talent emerging from the region. These are exciting times ahead and we look forward to the opportunities that Masdar City and the MBRIF can work upon together.”
Masdar City will refer community members interested in either or both, of the Innovation Accelerator and Guarantee Scheme, to join the MBRIF initiative, with the roles reversed for any entities enticed with Masdar City’s proposition to join its respective community.
Since its inception in December 2018, MBRIF’s Accelerator program has brought together 83 members from diverse sectors of the economy, emphasizing nurturing, and growing local entrepreneurs to augment the domestic innovation base.
Mr. Shaker Zainal, Head of MBRIF said that “With this new collaboration, we jointly seek to help local, regional and global businesses by giving them greater access to resources, funding, and mentorship in order to succeed in the UAE, through our unique platform.”
Masdar City now has over 1,000 businesses, ranging from multinationals to SMEs to local startups, all dedicated to driving the sustainability agenda and leading the solutions needed to achieve a greener, more sustainable urban living.
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