10 UAE Start-Ups To Watch

Start-ups are sprouting up across the country and speedily gaining access to investor support.

Souqalmal. Established: May 2012

Souqalmal, Arabic for money market, helps consumers to compare over 1,000 products online including credit cards, car loans, insurances, mobile phone plans, schools and nurseries in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Glambox. Established: December 2011

Founded by four men holding senior corporate jobs in the UAE, GlamBox is an internet-based company that offers women the chance to try the latest high-end beauty products. Interested women can subscribe to the service – starting at Dhs50 per month – and the products are then delivered in a pink box.
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Qordoba. Established: December 2011

Qordoba is a content creation company that provides localisation and language technology solutions. It employs 550 linguists, writers and editors in 30 countries.

Wally. Established: March 2013

The personal finance iPhone app, launched earlier this month, already has 10,000 downloads, with over 9,500 active users.
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Duplays. Established: 2007

Duplays Sports Services, founded in Dubai in 2007 to provide a social sports league platform, has managed to attract 40,000 members. The company recently received a second round of angel investment totaling $800,000 to further develop its web platform and fund regional expansion.

Nabbesh. Established: April 2012

Freelance skills site, Nabbesh, which has a registered user base of over 5,000 members, aims to connect those who need talent with those who can get the job done.
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Ananasa. Established: 2011

Ananasa, which means “for the people, by the people”, is an online platform for Middle Eastern artists, craftsmen and designers to commercialise their handmade items across the world..
Mumzworld. Established: 2011

The Dubai-based e-commerce platform was founded by Mona Ataya, a ‘mum’, and offers over 300 brands and 60,000 products for new mums. .
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JadoPado. Established: March 2011

Earlier this month, the e-commerce site announced that it had expanded operations outside the UAE to reach the entire GCC and South Asian countries of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Philippines and Sri Lanka.
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RoundMenu. Established: June 2012

RoundMenu, launched by the co-founders of Zawya, is an online service that offers discounts of up to 50 per cent at some of Dubai’s most popular restaurants.
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Read more: http://gulfbusiness.com/2013/03/10-uae-start-ups-to-watch/