Dubai, United Arab Emirates: The Grand Finale of Eureka! GCC 2023 competition saw Hulexo take the top prize amongst a field of ten finalists at Dubai’s Habtoor Grand Hotel, in the GCC element of Asia’s largest business model competition.
Organized by IIT Bombay’s Entrepreneurship Cell and powered by Gulf Islamic Investments (GII), Eureka! GCC 2023 provides aspiring entrepreneurs with a platform for business model creation, mentorship from investors, and networking and educational opportunities. In its second year of operation, Eureka! GCC 2023 received 150 business plans from budding business founders. Twenty-seven early-stage entrepreneurs participated in a five-week on-the-house entrepreneurship training programme, comprising customized workshops on effective business planning and personalized mentoring from seasoned industry professionals.
After a highly competitive selection process, Hulexo (a retail tech startup) won Eureka! GCC Grand Prize title and USD 25,000 prize money to invest in their business. The second prize of USD 15,000 went to Exirio, while CrossVal secured third, winning $10,000. A new Innovation Recognition award was introduced and rightfully awarded to Gesture Talk, with an amount of $5,000, for their revolutionizing work in changing the lives of hearing-impaired individuals. before an audience at the Habtoor Palace hotel in Dubai which included high-profile guests, renowned industry leaders and other supporters of Dubai’s business startup community.
GII co-Founder and co-CEO Pankaj Gupta commented, “The trajectory of Eureka! GCC has been ignited by the visionary leadership of Dubai, serving as a constant source of inspiration. Gulf Islamic Investments is proud to be associated with the UAE’s forward-thinking startup eco-system. We congratulate the winners and all participants and look forward to maintaining links with them all as their business journeys develop”.
Underlining the comprehensive partnership between India and the Arabian Gulf, Dr. Aman Puri, consul-general of India in Dubai, said “The alliance between UAE and India is currently basking in its golden age, radiating brilliance. Today, we gather to commemorate the profound collaboration between two prestigious institutions, GII and IIT Bombay, which embodies a holistic partnership. Our purpose is to ignite the spirits of aspiring young innovators who tread the path of global problem-solving, inspiring them to shape a brighter future.”
Links to the winning companies:
Hulexo: https://www.hulexo.com/
Exirio: https://www.exirio.com/
CrossVal: https://www.crossval.com/
Gesture Talk: https://gesturetalk.in/
About Eureka! GCC:
Eureka! was founded by the Entrepreneurship Cell of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, a leading worldwide technology body, and powered by Gulf Islamic Investments (GII), a leading UAE-based Shari’ah-compliant global alternative investment company with over US$3 billion of assets under management. Eureka! GCC aims to enable a low-risk environment to boost entrepreneurship, bridging the gap between ideas and enterprise to facilitate a seamless transition between the two.
To know more about Eureka! GCC, visit https://www.ecell.in/eurekagcc/
About Gulf Islamic Investments (GII):
Gulf Islamic Investments Group (GII) is a leading Shari’ah-compliant global alternative investment company. With over $3 billion of assets under management, GII seeks to achieve superior, sustainable returns and long-term value for its investors and shareholders by investing in curated growth and income-generating opportunities.
GII believes in ‘innovation with a purpose’, and works to build the sustainability of the ecosystem in which it operates. Under the leadership of a committed management team, supported by prominent shareholders from the Arabian Gulf region, GII deploys private capital across diverse alternative asset classes, including real estate, private equity, and venture capital. GII’s client network includes UHNWIs, family offices, banks, institutions, and sovereign wealth funds in the GCC and Asia.
GII is headquartered in the United Arab Emirates. Its UAE entities are regulated by the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA).
