Farzana Mansoor
SHARJAH (UAE): The Sharjah Business Angels Investors Network, an initiative by Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park (STRI Park), recently hosted a workshop on “Impact Investing: Preparing for COP28”.
The event targeted investors to enable them to find technology startups that had the potential to create social or economic impact and fund them as opposed to investing in other types of assets.
The event was attended by a number of entrepreneurs and business leaders who are active or future business angels.
Sofiya Oshchebska, a prominent investment expert, highlighted the nuances of impact investing in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) and provided tips on how to find more information about the measurement methodologies for the impact created by the startup.
A number of emerging companies also showcased their innovative ideas and capabilities to investors to align investments with sustainable and impactful projects.
The session also touched on many important topics, starting with defining this investment model in general, in addition to understanding and managing the risks and prospects of angel investment.
Hussain Al Mahmoudi, CEO of SRTI Park, said that the Sharjah Angel Investor Network transforms high-net-worth individuals into investors specialized in this type of investment, as this network will help support entrepreneurs in the field of emerging technology, and provide capital in the early stages. It will help transform research and ideas into practical projects, and develop global economic clusters in the country in the fields of innovation, creativity and design.
The Sharjah Business Angels & Investors Network is an initiative by SRTI Park to develop an active business angels (private investors) network that will invest in early-stage technology-based startups to help entrepreneurs thrive, provide innovative technology and create new jobs in Sharjah.
Its main goal is to educate private investors and raise awareness about the opportunities for investing in young entrepreneurs who are building new solutions for the industry and the government in Sharjah.
Propelled by innovative technologies like Machine Learning, Big Data, Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR), Biotechnology, Blockchain and many others, these companies can grow much faster than a usual brick-and-mortar business, and create many more jobs. Thus, they will be strongly contributing to the development of the local economy.
This was SRTIP’s fourth meet-up for private investors from Sharjah and other Northern Emirates. The initiative was launched back in 2022. Over the year, the participants of the Sharjah Business Angels Network Meetups have discussed various topics – angel investing fundamentals; trends of investments in the MENA; investing in the mobility and logistics industry; and how to find the right team to invest in. 15+ startups presented their innovative solutions to the audience, and experienced venture capitalists (VC) analyzed them in real-time to share their expertise with the beginners.
Against the backdrop of the upcoming COP28, the 4th meetup focused on preparing for a startup search during COP28 to make sure the investors are ready to get the maximum out of it and invest in a handful of impactful companies as a result.
SRTIP is planning a series of awareness events for introduction to VC investing and more deep-dive workshops for the members of the Sharjah Business Angels & Investors Network in 2024. Interested persons can join via the link: https://signup.srtip.ae/sharjah-investors-network.
