Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development is inviting creative entrepreneurs to participate in the second edition of ‘Pitch@PalaceUAE’ and the first edition of ‘Pitch@PalaceGCC to encourage innovation among the youth and promote SMEs.

Pitch@Palace plays a vital role in supporting innovative enterprises and ideas at the local and regional levels, with the aim of forging a new generation of entrepreneurs from the UAE and the rest of the GCC while also fostering a culture of innovation and supporting the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across countries in the region.

Both editions of Pitch@Palace are strategic partners of the ‘Pitch@Palace Global’ competition, which was launched in 2014 by Prince Andrew, Duke of York in the UK. The competition is a global platform for entrepreneurs and innovators to showcase their projects to a group of businessmen and executive heads of prestigious companies, to get the help and support to amplify their businesses. The call for entries will end on August 15.

Abdulla Al Darmaki, CEO of Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, said: “We look forward with confidence to the upcoming Pitch@Palace, which highlights Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development’s commitment to instil a culture of entrepreneurship among Emiratis and Gulf residents while also promoting a culture of innovation and sustainable growth for SMEs that will further drive social and economic development.”

The first UAE edition of the competition provided the perfect opportunity for Emirati entrepreneurs and innovators to showcase their creativity to a global audience of influencers, businessmen and CEOs of prestigious companies. It spearheaded the country’s quest for innovation and technological intelligence, encouraged the creative young and local minds in the field of communication, science and technology and provided them with the facilities and guidance to make their ideas a reality, thus contributing to the growth and economic diversity of the UAE and across the GCC.

In the first edition, the competition featured several new projects, and identified two Emirati winners who came up with unique projects, at the local and global levels: Faraj Al Faraj, creator of the ‘Brailleye’ device, and Mansour Al Kaabi, creator of the ‘Dwak’ application. The projects were viewed at the ‘Pitch@Palace Global’ edition held at St James Palace in the UK, by several dignitaries, businessmen and global influencers.

Brailleye was an idea conceptualized by Faraj Al Faraj to help visually impaired individuals read in Braille or obtain audio versions of a scanned text. The ‘Dwak App’ is a smartphone application that makes it easy to follow the medication regimen. This medical application sends automatic reminders to users every time they need to take tablets or follow course of medicine, while keeping track of the user’s prescriptions to remind him when it is time for a refill.

The Fund will also be hosting the first Gulf edition of the competition, which aims to highlight the creative youth of the region--falling in line with its strategy to serve the creative youth as an example and role model in supporting entrepreneurship and developing the spirit of innovation and creativity among Gulf youth and enhance cooperation and communication among Gulf entrepreneurs to achieve comprehensive development at the local and regional levels. – TradeArabia News Service