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Shortlist Announced For Top 10 Finalists Of Dubai Smartpreneur Competition 4.0 The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has announced the shortlist of its top 10 finalists for the 4th Dubai Smartpreneur Competition.

By Megha Merani

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The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has announced the shortlist of its top 10 finalists for the fourth edition of the Dubai Smartpreneur Competition.

The candidates will compete in the final round at Entrepreneur Middle East's Enterprise Agility Forum 2019 on April 30th, 2019, with three winners being announced at the end of the event. The winners will receive cash prizes and access to training and support designed to help them get their businesses off the ground.

The finalists are:

Pic W Post: an ecosystem designed to help micro to small enterprises manage daily accounting needs.

Monocole: an augmented reality app for tourists and residents.

Design Hubz: a software as a service platform for sharing property renderings.

Peliere: a service designed to improve communication and trade between airline and logistics companies through blockchain and smart contracts.

Denari Cash: a mobile application helping overseas workers to send money.

xpence: a digital-only intelligent business bank account designed by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs.

Simplifai Labs: a new concept of instant commerce leveraging on visual discovery and AI technology.

Arabee: a high specification platform providing an online multi-format Arabic language programme.

Giftrapp: a gift registry platform that allows adding items from various online and offline stores.

Booklava: a spoken, non-music, audio platform.

The annual Dubai Smartpreneur Competition gives startups and entrepreneurs in the UAE an opportunity to become part of the Dubai Government's strategy to elevate the city into a global platform for innovation-focused businesses.

More than 250 business ideas were submitted in the fourth edition of the competition, under the categories of blockchain, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation. The submissions were narrowed down to 50, before an expert panel of judges from Dubai's entrepreneurial community recently selected the top 10 finalists.

The competition, organised under Dubai Startup Hub in cooperation with Smart Dubai, is in line with Dubai Chamber's comprehensive strategy that aims to nurture and develop Dubai's entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Launched as an initiative of Dubai Chamber in 2016, Dubai Startup Hub is an interactive platform that connects startups, entrepreneurs, developers, venture capitalists and students, enabling them to learn about new opportunities and create new partnerships that stimulate economic growth.

Related: Matchmaking For Entrepreneurs: Dubai Startup Hub Launches Co-Founder Dubai Program

Megha Merani

Independent Journalist

Megha Merani is an independent journalist based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Her stories have made headlines across a number of publications including Reuters, Associated Press, Entrepreneur Middle EastBloomberg Middle East, Arabian Gulf Business Insight, Arabian Business, and former local daily 7DAYS.

Megha also produces editorial for government platforms including the World Government Summit and World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils. She has been a grant winner of the Thomson Reuters Foundation and The Global Initiative Against Organized Crime funded by the government of Norway to report on the online trade in illegal wildlife.

Megha is also an Associate Fellow (AFHEA) at Murdoch University in Dubai and leads its Digital Newsroom course unit. In addition, Megha serves as a United Nations Women mentor to support equal opportunities for women entrepreneurs, and supports various other programs including TIE Women, 60 Day Startups, and the Watt Inc. Business Incubator.

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