UAE Makes It To EMEA’s Top 5 In Publicis90 Shortlist

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Publicis Groupe is celebrating its 90th anniversary with the objective of giving something back to the industry. It initiated Publicis90, a global endeavor to support 90 startups or promising projects in the digital field with this in mind. The process included inviting entries that are being evaluated to reach the final 90. Publicis Groupe will back these projects in turning their ideas into reality.

The shortlist is out and 320 applications from 34 countries are now competing to be in the final 90. For the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the shortlist brings good news as 14 entries from UAE clear the first round. This puts UAE among the top five countries competing from the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region.

Round 1 Good For UAE
Since the close of entries on February 29, 2016, the 3,555 eligible projects submitted were evaluated by two juries –– the over 76,000 Publicis Groupe employees and a jury composed of digital experts from around the world, including Publicis Groupe. Publicis Groupe employee submissions amount to 20 percent of the total shortlist.

Needless to say Publicis Groupe agencies in the region are thrilled. In a conversation with Arabian Marketer, Ali Nehme, MD of Digital, Starcom says, “The results were quite refreshing, with the UAE ranking in the top five countries in EMEA. It was definitely inspiring to see five percent of the global shortlists coming from the UAE.”

Explaining why markets such as Lebanon, Saudi Arabia or Egypt were missing, Mr Nehme observed, “The entries coming from outside of the UAE were not many, which is partially due to the visibility of the initiative in the other MENA markets. It’s disappointing not to have much diversity, however, UAE-based startups are being incubated in a more advanced eco-system.”

The majority of the 14 shortlisted entries from UAE are ecommerce-led ideas. Mr Nehme explains that this is line with expectations given that the market is still relatively nascent when it comes to the digital economy. He said, “The high number of ecommerce entries, with ecommerce being broad from home-made food delivery to fashion, is due to two reasons. The market hasn’t matured enough so there’s still a lot of room for growth and the other verticals, like healthcare or fintech, are still in their early stages and will take time to get enough scale.”

In most of the cases, the shortlisted entries are reflective of the trends MENA is exhibiting. However, Mr Nehme cautions that since many startups in MENA are a localization of global concepts, they might not be disruptive enough for the judges to make it to the final 90.

Mr Nehme is of the opinion that the likes of social, content and mobile, which are all related, was underrepresented in the entries submitted. He said, “We’re in a region where these consumptions are the highest globally, yet we still under-index in local startups around these area. On the other hand, we still need to better n many verticals like healthcare. Even though we have one such shortlist from the UAE, the entries in this category were just too little.”

The Shortlisted
#1. adZurb, a media idea which is an online B2B platform connecting offline ad space owners and offline media buyers
#2. Carpool Arabia, a mobile startup that is an affordable and convenient transportation network for Middle East, looking to build the smartest carpooling solution for urban consumers
#3. Coralwood, an ecommerce startup that connects value of things people want to give up with their wants
#4. el Grocer, an ecommerce idea that looks to transform grocery shopping through connecting consumers, retailers and brands in an evolving digital marketplace
#5. LanaDan, another ecommerce idea that is a Match&Ready digital wardrobe made for the new age girl who has the money but not the time to shop
#6. Medicus, a health tech company that converts blood test reports with cryptic numbers into a visual experience with health insights in simple terms
#7. Pixelbug, a media startup that makes print smart and aims to be the Shazam of print advertising
#8. Seez, a media startup, that aims to reinvent the way people discover, buy and sell cars and bring it to the mobile age
#9. Selfup, a big data startup that targets individuals who wish to lead active lifestyles and provides them with easy to use, mobile and comprehensive tools for finding activities and booking them through an application
#10. Taka Solutions, a big data startup that looks to reduce world’s energy consumption by 20 percent and solve COP21 challenges around the world by deploying technology and providing information through software and paid-from-savings model, fueled by IoT and social media
#11. Uktob, a content startup that is a marketplace solution helping clients streamline content generation projects efficiently while ensuring that at any given point, there is a pool of high quality talent that is ready to address all clients content needs
#12. Wrappup, a cloud startup that is a meeting productivity tool that uses smart voice recording to summarize meeting discussions and make meetings searchable
#13. Youmah, an ecommerce startup that provides mothers and working families in the Middle East with content and products related to healthy organic lifestyle
#14. Yumamia, an ecommerce startup that aims to be the Uber of food, turning housewives into entrepreneurs

To continue on to the next round of evaluation, each shortlisted candidate must now submit a business plan and a pitch video, which will be analyzed by Iris Capital. A global jury, whose members will be announced shortly, will then make the selection of 90 final projects.

Each of the 90 finalists selected will benefit from a capital contribution of between 10,000€ and 500,000€, one year of mentoring by a Publicis Groupe executive, and will be invited to Viva Technology Paris, a global tech event dedicated to fostering collaboration between large companies and startups, sponsored by Publicis Groupe and Groupe Les Echos. They will also benefit from the support of the Henner Group, an insurance expert and a partner of Publicis90.

Maxime Baffert, CEO, Proximedia and in charge of the Publicis90 initiative, comments, “The quality of the 3,555 submitted projects is very impressive. This shortlist reflects the large diversity of applications, from both a geographical and an industry standpoint, and will lead to a final selection of very promising projects and startups. What is clear is that the final selection will not be easy.”
Globally, adtech & media formed 21 percent of overall shortlist. Big data contributed 16 percent, ecommerce & retail comprised 14 percent, mobile was at nine percent and content & Entertainment was at eight percent.

“Initiatives like Publics90 spark a conversation with our clients on how we can bring startups closer to their business, either the startups are more nimble and can alter their business proposition based on the brands need or because they’re closer to the consumer,” concluded Mr Nehme.

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