Fourth cycle of Flat6Labs Ignite programme kicks off in Abu Dhabi

Flat6Labs, in partnership with DisruptAD, the venture platform of ADQ, unveiled the 10 new startups that have been selected for the fourth cycle of the flagship Flat6Labs Ignite programme.

Launched in March 2021 as a partnership between DisruptAD and Flat6Labs, Flat6Labs Ignite is a specialised seed programme committed to supporting startups in Abu Dhabi.

Since Flat6Labs has invested in 37 startups with total funding of Dhs33m since the programme started.

Selection process

Startups for the fourth cycle of the programme were picked after a comprehensive selection process involving over 960 applicants from across the world.

The 10 new Flat6Labs Ignite startups operate in key market segments including Web3 technologies, e-commerce enablement, edtech and healthtech.

• Bazaara (UAE): A peer-to-peer marketplace for resale fashion. Touted as the ‘eBay for fashion in the Middle East’ the company enables customers to shop thousands of one-of-a-kind preloved and vintage items.
• Burger Index (Spain): The data, analytics and insights platform offers restaurants and hospitality brands with real-time market, competition, and consumer insights to accelerate informed decision-making on new concepts, locations, menus, pricing, promotions, and trends.
• DesignHubz (UAE): As an Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) innovator, the company empowers online shoppers to visualise products as they would in-store, thereby elevating their shopping experience.
• Growdash (UAE): A martech solution-as-a-service provider geared towards restaurant brands, the company helps restaurants build optimised growth strategies through data-driven insights.
• Growth Velocity Academy (Bahrain): The company is building a ‘metaverse for the education sector’ with the aim of enabling top universities and cutting-edge courses to go live virtually on the blockchain.
• Kinderly (UAE): The early years’ edtech startup helps daycare providers enhance the quality of learning and engagement for toddlers, as well as their communications with parents and guardians.
• MNZL (USA): The property tech marketplace provides borrowers with online, fast, and effortless access to the best mortgage options.
• Revibe (UAE): This marketplace for refurbished electronics differentiates itself by rigorously selecting suppliers and applying proprietary, automated quality control mechanisms to ensure customers can be confident of their purchases.
• Shaffra (UAE): Shaffra is a metaverse-as-a-service company for corporates and SMEs looking to enter the metaverse in an affordable manner.
• Takalam (UAE): This online counselling platform for mental wellbeing connects individuals and organisations directly with professional counsellors over highly-secure links for private and personalised digital experience using video, audio, and instant messaging.

 “Given investor trends over the last year, we have deliberately selected startups that have the potential to radically transform the e-commerce, edtech, and healthtech sectors. These are also all focus verticals for the UAE government and once these organisations have established themselves as market leaders in the country, there is clear potential for them to then rapidly expand across the GCC,” said Ryaan Sharif, general manager at Flat6Labs UAE.

Introducing our newest cohort of #AbuDhabi Seed Program who are developing disruptive #tech products in multiple sectors such as #ecommerce #RealEstate #EnterpriseTech #HealthTech and #Edtech??

We look forward to being part of their journey?@disruptad #Flat6Labs #startups pic.twitter.com/9rxDCxz6Q5

— Flat6Labs (@Flat6Labs) January 16, 2023

Check out more insights from Sharif on three lesser-known reasons why startups fail.