Mubasher: The second London Business School’s (LBS) MENA Startup Competition 2023 witnessed a strong UAE presence in the finals following a three-month selection process, according to a press release.

Five out of 10 seed-stage startups joined from the UAE and have earned their spot in the Grand Final that will take place on 10 October 2023 at the AstroLabs Campus facility in Dubai.

The UAE-based startups are cyber security company AHAD, startup fundraising marketplace Caena, wellbeing firm DUDI, retail Point of Service provider Hulexo, and industrial waste management firm The Surpluss.

Meanwhile, fintech and payment facilitation company Zeal joined from Egypt and food waste management firm Organic Waste Management Solutions represented Saudi Arabia.

The other three finalists were Bahrain-based media and women career empowerment Playbook, wellness firm Arab Therapy from Jordan, and 3D construction company Innotech from Oman.

LBS MBA alumni and co-president of the LBS MENA Entrepreneurship Club in Saudi Arabia, Ihab Tabbara, said: "Our broader ambition with this competition is to cultivate a MENA-based entrepreneurial landscape by bridging the gap between founders and investors.”

The 2023 MENA contest witnessed over 90 applications representing various sectors from the MENA region. In the inaugural edition of the competition in 2022, Turkish technology startup Ollang was the winner as it focuses on end-to-end human-powered artificial intelligence (AI) localisation through subtitles and dubbing for video and audio.