SHARJAH - The Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre, Sheraa, has partnered with Motivate Media Group to establish an AED1 million fund to support tech startups via exclusive in-kind services.

Numerous tech startups under Sheraa’s portfolio will get exclusive access to these services, receiving benefits from Motivate – a multi-platform content producer – including advertising space in their print magazines, digital marketing, editorial support, as well as guidance with their marketing and promotional plans.

The fund’s beneficiaries will receive marketing and advertising support across platforms of four of Motivate’s leading titles, including Dubai’s first-ever magazine What’s On, Gulf Business, Emirates Woman – a magazine picked up by both traditional and digital audiences, and finally, their architecture digest Identity.

After pledging a US$1 million solidarity fund earlier in May to help startups under strain, Sheraa has drawn up this stimulus plan with the aim of helping tech startups bounce back, using well-established and reputable marketing platforms to reach a wide market audience. Motivate will guide startups on best practices, helping them target relevant audiences, to ensure that campaigns deliver optimal results.

Sheraa has been conducting surveys to assess the exact needs of its startups, where their specific challenges lie, and identify their most pressing requirements apart from fundraising.

"Motivate was a natural partner for this new Sheraa endeavour; we wanted our startups to leverage the immense market outreach they have built over 35 years," Najla Al Midfa, the non-profit’s CEO, said.

She added that tech SMEs benefiting from this initiative will feature alongside cutting-edge editorial, becoming known to millions in the region and beyond who form Motivate’s readership. Collaborations like these are a testament to the growing sense of community within the entrepreneurship ecosystem, "we look forward to building on our partnership to further support our founders, both in the current climate and beyond." Ian Fairservice, Managing Partner of Motivate Media Group, said that Motivate and Sheraa are committing a substantial fund in the form of advertising and marketing, to support UAE-SMEs across all platforms, "during what we are referring to as a period of business revival." "This contribution forms part of our overall support and we couldn’t do better than to work with Sheraa to cover the essential Tech sector," he concluded.

 

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