Sara Belhaif Al Nuaimi CEO of Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center Discusses Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Lindsay Judge   |   30-01-2025

The Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa) was established in 2016 to support startup businesses in Sharjah, offering mentorship and incubating entrepreneurship in the Emirates to help establish the growth of young companies.

Since launching, Sheraa supported start-ups have generated 120 million US dollars of revenue with 87 million dollars of capital raised by Sheraa to support startup companies. As CEO, Sara Belhaif Al Nuaimi is tasked with ensuring the continuation of the success of Sheraa so far and helping to further support young businesses to achieve success. One of the biggest platforms that helps with this mission is the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival which was launched in 2017 with the aim of motivating entrepreneurs and promoting social responsibility. The festival brings together entrepreneurs, government partners, potential investors and those interested in the sector. Here we find out more about this year’s festival as well as how Sheraa is working towards continuing its mission. 

Tell us a about your role at Sheraa and what it encompasses. 

We work under the guidance of Her Excellency Sheikha Bodour Al Sultan Qasimi, Chairperson of Sheraa and we work on supporting Sharjah’s mission to position itself as a global leader for entrepreneurship and innovation. I had the privilege of taking on this role quite recently and I would like to build on the foundation of Sheraa that has been set out over the past eight years. We work very closely with the founders of start-up companies to guide them and provide them with support, connections, access to investment, financial grants. And we also work on curating programmes and initiatives to help meet the needs of entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs. 

The advantage we have at Sheraa is that we look at startups in their very early stages and I think that puts us in a great position. We work on helping the entrepreneur to build their business from the bottom up and in turn, help to build on the eco-system that has been created in Sharjah connected to this. 

What can you tell us about Sharjah as a hub for entrepreneurs?

Sharjah has always been a place where innovation thrives. We are lucky to be the educational capital of the UAE. Having access and being in close proximity to the University City gives us access to a continuous pool of talent. I think that by itself differentiates what Sharjah has to offer to entrepreneurs in comparison to other places in the world. 

This year alone we have climbed in the global rankings. We became the 4th best entrepreneurial hub in the GCC and the 7th in the MENA region. We aspire to keep climbing up those rankings. We look at providing mentorship and funding to entrepreneurs and we have been able to help start-ups raise 171 million dollars in capital to date and close to 150 million dollars in revenue and we have helped create close to 2,000 jobs. 

What are the criteria that you look for in the businesses that Sheraa supports and how do you connect with business owners?

We have many ways to connect with entrepreneurs. We work with aspiring businessmen and women at a very early stage which is one of the benefits of what we do and a real source for us to build our community. We work with the University of Sharjah and The American University of Sharjah. We have our own hubs close to the University City in addition to our headquarters and in those hubs we provide programmes to upscale youth in the entrepreneurship field. We have an online platform for students to access the basics of entrepreneurship and this is available to all our members. We also have our flagship incubator which start-ups can apply to and we will provide care and support as the businesses grow. We give them access to funding, access to clients and help them grow their business in the right way. We also have our Sheraa community which is a community of Sharjah-based communities. 

What are some of the fastest-growing industries you are seeing in the Emirate?

We have started to look at what the priority industries are in Sharjah and the UAE and we saw sustainability, tech, advanced manufacturing and the creative industry at main focal areas. These industries are aligned with the UAE’s visions and we feel we can add value by supporting start-ups and addressing these four sectors. Therefore in the last year, when we are enrolling start-ups in our programmes we are focusing on those four industries. 

How does Sheraa work towards achieving the goals and overall vision of His Highness?

I always tell my team that we are a very lucky nation to have such a visionary leadership. They acknowledged the need for diversifying the economy early on and entrepreneurship and SMEs are part of that. Of course, His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, The Ruler of Sharjah, has championed many principals including sustainability, education and cultural preservations and these have been the pillars of Sharjah’s development. With that and the guidance of Sheikha Bodour, we work on fostering a culture of progression and advancement. We also aspire for Sharjah to be a hub for entrepreneurship regionally and globally. 

What steps has Sheraa taken to promote Sharjah and its businesses on an international platform as well as regionally?

We have a number of initiatives to do so. One that stands out is the Access Sharjah challenge. We are working closely with different sectors within Sharjah to identify challenges within certain areas. And then we have campaign calling startups from all over the world to apply to this challenge and to propose solutions to the challenges we have highlighted. This gives them a chance to set up their business in Sharjah. This is a way of attracting global startups to Sharjah. The last one was in the Department of Agriculture and Livestock where we were looking at addressing certain challenges for livestock health and sustainable irrigation. We received 2,000 applications to that challenge and we chose two winners that will be announced next month in the presence of His Highness. These two startups are regional and they will be coming here to Sharjah and implementing their solutions in the farm land in Sharjah. 

What can we expect from this year’s edition of the Sharjah Entrepreneurship festival?

The Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival has grown to become one of the biggest events in Sharjah, attracting over 10,000 people annually. We expect visitors to be flying in from all over the world for this year’s edition and it’s set to be the biggest yet, with double the capacity of last year. We are working around the theme “Where We Belong” and there will be over 300 speakers and over 350 innovative start-up companies coming to Sharjah to inspired people and showcase what they do. We have a huge lineup that includes international speakers in addition to entertainment, retail and more. 

There will be masterclasses and workshops that entrepreneurs can benefit from. We will have a pitch competition for startups with a pool of AED700,000 in grants awarded to businesses. There will be an investors lounge where we will be connecting entrepreneurs to potential investors. 

It’s a very exciting time of the year and it’s an experience that has been curated very carefully for people to come and enjoy and gather knowledge and information. 

Who are you targeting with the festival? 

It was initially intended for entrepreneurs but it has evolved into a much bigger event that inspires everyone in the community. It’s open for everyone – I believe that anyone that comes in will benefit from it in his or her own way. It’s catering for all areas of the community and we are looking forward to welcoming people from different walks of life. 

What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role? 

Being able to continuously and effectively provide support to our community and counterbalance that with the rapid changes in the world when it comes to technology and everything else. So keeping up with changes that are happening in the world is something that is a challenge and one that we are strongly focusing on. 

I’m lucky to have a great team and we all keep up to date with developments that are happening in the world and we are very adaptable which I think is one of the biggest advantages that we have at Sheraa.  

Can you tell us about the work you do with women specifically? 

Supporting women is something that has always been close to my heart. I’m proud to say the about 52 per cent of the start-ups that we support at Sheraa are women-led. The majority of my team is women. And we actively support female entrepreneurs through different mentorship programmes, funding and platforms to help them amplify their voices. 

What advice would you give to women who are apprehensive about beginning their entrepreneurial journey?

I would tell them to have the courage to move forward and take that step. The hardest step is always the first step but once you get into it, things will flow. Things don’t have to be perfect at the beginning, you just have to take that first step and then adjust, adapt and tweak things as you move forward. We are very lucky to be in this country and have access to Sheraa and other incubators and entities that provide such support for any business or startup to grow and thrive. 

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