Schedule

Awards

1. Dubai Regional Finalists (10-15 teams)

- Eligibility for Alibaba Cloud’s international startup program Create@Alibaba Cloud where participants will receive and win USD $10,000 credit in cloud resources and free 1 on 1 Cloud infrastructure solution planning with Alibaba Cloud Architects.
- ICP application support, making it easy and smooth to set up your website and applications in China.
- Opportunities to connect with investors/incubators/co-working spaces in China.

2. CACSC Dubai Regional Winners (5 teams)

We will select five teams from the final contest of Dubai：
-The winner of Dubai
-Outstanding Woman entrepreneur
-Outstanding startup in Cloud/E-commerce/Mobile app

The winner of Dubai will receive following additional awards:
- USD $50,000 credit to be used on Alibaba Cloud products and services.
- Invited to compete in the World Final at the Alibaba Cloud Yunqi Conference. There the winner will have the opportunity to meet the top investment firms in China and gain coverage from global media. (Hotels and conference entrance are sponsored by Alibaba Cloud)

3. The CACSC World Champion (1 team)

In addition to the benefits mentioned above, the winner of the global final, held in Hangzhou, China on October 2016, will receive the following rewards:
A seat in the Alibaba Cloud’s 18 Founders program, and receive USD $216,000 credit to be used for Alibaba Cloud products and services, and a tailor-made marketing support plan which will give the winner access to global media exposure and opportunities to meet with investors.

Competition Entry Requirements, Rules & Notes

1. Entry requirements & judging criterion

The entry requirements and judging criterion see the contest main page.
Only companies registered in the Middle East can participate in the CACSC Dubai session.

2. Competition rules

-   Sign-up: Startups can sign-up through Alibaba Cloud website and our partners’ channels, or recommended by others, the application requires basic company information and the detailed business profile (details see the Application Form, and pls send the Form to CACSC@list.alibaba-inc.com).
-   Pre-screen:The CACSC Dubai contest committee will carefully read the materials of each applicant, and may call or email the applicants to verify applicant's information or collect additional detail of the submission. 10-15 startup companies will be selected for the Dubai regional final and they will be notified the details of the arrangements for the Demo Day on September 21th.
-   Dubai regional final: We will hold the demo day in public area, each startup in the finalist choose one representative to introduce their project, and the judges will select one winners for the world final in China.

3. Time and venue of the Dubai final

Time: September 21th, 10:00-14:00
Venue: Dubai Technology Entrepreneurship Centre - Dtec

4. Notes

Any company selected for the Dubai regional finalist which had joined Create@Alibaba Cloud program, will not receive an additional USD 10,000 cloud resource credit.

Meet the Judges

• 

  Dinesh Ajmera, SVP of Technology, Souq.com

  As SVP of Technology at Souq.com, Dinesh is responsible for product engineering, quality, and technology operations. Dinesh has 16 years of experience in building consumer & enterprise web-scale products. He has built top-notch Engineering teams responsible for architecture, development, quality & deployment of high-performance online platforms through innovative technology solutions. He has also led the building of analytics platforms and products powered by Big Data & Algorithms to deliver world-class customer experience.
  Dinesh has joined Souq.com from Commonfloor, one of the largest real-estate marketplace platforms in India, where he headed Engineering & Technology. Prior to that, he led product & engineering for Display Advertising, Affiliate Marketing & Comparison Shopping Engines at Walmart. He also held positions at [24]7 Inc (Innovation Labs), Amazon (Checkout by Amazon), Oracle (Real-time Collaboration) & Microsoft. He holds an MS in Computer Science from UCLA and a BTech in Computer Science & Engineering from IIT Bombay.

• 

  Magnus, the founder and MD, Careem

  Magnus is the founder and MD of Careem, prior to Careem Magnus was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company. He was part of the high-tech practice and advised clients globally on strategy and business building. Magnus initially based in Stockholm, then moved to the Middle East in 2006. Already at the age of fifteen, Magnus founded his first company, an IT consultancy focused on helping SMEs.

• 

  Omar Soudodi, Managing Director, PayFort

  Omar Soudodi is the Managing Director of PayFort, the Arab World online Payment gateway. Omar brings entrepreneurial innovation and extensive dotcom expertise to Payfort, coupled with strong management experience in the financial sector in the Middle East and the United States.
  Soudodi was previously the general manager of Souq.com Egypt, the largest online retailer in the Arab world where he oversaw the launch and the successful growth of the portal since 2009.
  Prior to that, Soudodi was behind the creation and launch of Accelarabia.com in 2006 where he founded the region’s first online mortgage aggregator, earning him regional recognition and nominations for multiple entrepreneurial awards.
  Before his entrepreneurial accomplishments in the Middle East, Omar spent 10 years building a successful banking career in the United States where he held several senior roles in commercial, international and private banking. Soudodi’s banking career culminated in his appointment to assistant vice president at Bank of America, Private Banking. Omar also served tenures with California Bank & Trust, and Sunwest Bank.
  Born in New Jersey, USA, Omar holds a degree in Finance from California State University at Fullerton, and is a certified Financial Advisor by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD).

• 

  Peng Xiao, CEO, Pegasus

  Mr. Peng Xiao is a global technology and business leader with a proven track record in building breakthrough products, delivering customer success and achieving commercial results.
  As CEO of Pegasus, Mr. Xiao is responsible for crafting the business and product vision and leading the development and services teams to deliver a world-class Smart City platform and the associated applications to both commercial and government clients.
  Previously as MicroStrategy SEVP, CTO and CIO, Mr. Xiao had a decade of executive and operational experience in software platform and system innovation. Responsible for the management of over 1000 engineers, Mr. Xiao led the R&D of the company’s product portfolio including the platforms of Business Intelligence, Secure Identity and Mobile Commerce.
  Experienced in building high-performing and distributed talent organizations, Mr. Xiao personally selected and mentored 100s of top-notch technologists, designers and product managers internationally. Over the years, Mr. Xiao built a partnership ecosystem to promote joint technology and business development with his counterparts at Facebook, Citigroup, eBay, Alibaba and other leading companies around the world, rapidly creating cutting-edge analytics, security and commerce solutions on both consumer and business networks.

• 

  Prashant (PK) Gulati, the technology evangelist

  PK Gulati has been an influencer of the technology community, in the region, Silicon Valley and the Indian Subcontinent, for the last decade and more. He is well connected with technology leaders and influencers of the region and is a respected voice and trend spotter for leading edge technological innovation.
  PK has been involved with the startup community as a mentor, investor and founder and has helped get many initiatives off the ground, including many of the incubation/acceleration efforts. This provides him an exceptional view of the landscape and connectivity with most leading initiatives from around the world.
  Prashant is an active Angel and Early Stage investor in startups, younger companies and fresh ideas. With a portfolio of ventures in India, Middle East and US, he is actively involved in providing mentorship, guidance and advice to such companies at various levels. He has been associated with a large number of successful startups and has an active portfolio in the US, Middle East and India.
  A Post Graduate with Honours in Computer Science and Management, PK resides in Dubai for the last two decades and is very closely connected with the latest in technology and innovation around the world, with very close association with innovation powerhouses like MIT Media Labs, Silicon Valley giants, TED, Leading Venture Firms and Technology Clusters around the world.

• 

  Feroz Sanaulla, Managing Partner, Vecta Strategy

  Feroz is currently Managing Partner at Vecta Strategy, a boutique consulting, financial advisory and market access provider for the Middle East.
  In the previous two years, Feroz helped setup a VC and incubation arm for a Swiss investor network. Feroz then built a financial technology platform focusing on mezzanine debt for SME’s (Emerging Circle) and invested in an invoice-discounting platform (Cashnomix, sold to Apex Peak, Singapore). He also has co-founded a TechED company, The Coding Circle (www.thecodingcircle.com), which focuses on teaching computer programming to kids between the ages of 8-16.
  Educated in the US and with work experiences from US, Asia and Europe, Feroz brings a unique global perspective in building businesses. Feroz has been involved in entrepreneurial start-ups in social networking, enterprise software, consumer internet and mobility companies. He has also served on several boards as an advisor.
  Feroz holds an electrical engineering degree from The University of Maryland (honors) and an MBA from the Ross School of Business at The University of Michigan.

• 

  Scott Gillespie, Founder and Managing Partner, Jigsaw Group

  Scott Gillespie is the Founder and Managing Partner of the Jigsaw Group. Over 2 decades Jigsaw Group has invested in technology enabled startups in: EdTech, HealthTech, ICT/mobile, building and construction materials, electric vehicles, media, and the creative industries; in North America, MENA region, and the South Pacific. For startups, Jigsaw Group has architected mentoring programs for: new market entry, startups, women (entrepreneurs), startup competition winners, growth (export) stage businesses, and angel investing.
  Prior to the Jigsaw Group, Scott was the General Manager for Smart City Australia, where his team showcased Australian innovations. Scott started his career with Unisys, raising to the role of CFO. Scott has a BSc, MBA, is a certified Licensing Professional (2008-2017), and regular contributor to boards and advisory panels.

• 

  Jean-Luc Scherer, Telecommunications Expert

  Telecommunications Expert with 20 years experience in the Mobile Industry, Jean-Luc's expertise ranges from Business Transformation to Mobile Application Development, Digital Marketing &Internet of Things. Jean-Luc is part Ericsson Middle East’s Core and Cloud Practice, where he drives the digital transformation of Ericsson’s customers by facilitating the adoption of new ICT technologies like IoT, Cloud and Bigdata. Jean-Luc is also an Ericsson Innovation coach and an active member of the local Startup community. He is regularly part of hackathon juries and mentors a number of IoT startups in and outside of the UAE.
  After his innovation management training in 2014, he got more and more involved in driving the innovation process within Ericsson. Working on incremental improvements through Kaizen initiative, he also transfer that knowledge to customer through consulting. He is today a mentor in the region and a judge for Ericsson’s global innovation awards. In 2015, he received the President’s award for his outstanding contribution to the company’s innovation process.

The Dubai Session Is Hosted By