Dubai: For women entrepreneurs, building a startup from the ground up is often times not without its fair share of challenges. But that did not stop UAE-based 28-year-old Emirati, Maryam A. Hassani, from venturing into a fiercely competitive technology sector and being her own boss in 2022.
"I've seen the tech ecosystem and the entrepreneurial spirit flourish with the support of the country's visionary leaders. The UAE is a test bed for new ideas and attracts tech talent and founders worldwide with its startup-friendly regulations,” said Hassani, when asked about her entrepreneurial beginnings.
"I was drawn to innovation and startup projects, playing key roles in UAE-based start-up support systems like the Special Olympics Innovation Challenge and the Mohammed bin Rashid Innovation Fund (MBRIF) Accelerator Program."
Born and raised in Dubai, Hassani found herself to be particularly passionate about not just the technology firms emerging in the Middle East, but she soon began delving deeper into designing software programs to help startups to establish a presence in the region.
Challenges of acquiring start-up funds
When Hassani bootstrapped her tech startup, she ensured that ‘burn rate’ was kept low, primarily because “acquiring ‘venture capital’ (VC) funding within a cutthroat tech sector has been incredibly demanding, particularly for women founders.”
Venture capital is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in terms of number of employees, annual revenue, scale of operations, etc.
Hassani went on to also add that she felt there was a rising need to “level the playing field in technology”. This is why her firm was set up to help software developers launch quickly, reduce costs, and upkeep products as they expand, she explained.
With its proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) code generation system to build software products faster, Hassani’s startup has currently secured over 1,200 users within the first two years, with over 45 companies having been established in the Middle East as a result.
Got over 1,200 users in the first two years
"Developing and scaling software products without an initial investment or a budget to hire a development team is time-consuming and resource-intensive," explained Hassani, who met with her business partner at a conference in Helsinki when the business was in search of its first customers.
“Being limited in team size, we were motivated to find a solution to speed up our time to market with a smaller team. We focus on solving today's pressing challenges for numerous software companies globally," she added.
"Due to our financial limitations, we created an in-house AI code generation framework, enabling us to develop products - a networking tool we completed in less than a week. This approach not only helped us reduce expenses but also demonstrated the commercial viability of our AI framework.
"Our methods for navigating this landscape are resilience, adaptability, and ongoing customer communication. These strategies enable us to pivot effectively when identifying new market opportunities."
Second, an AI Event Assistant provides event attendees with personalised, real-time suggestions for collaboration opportunities.
The apps are free because they are focused on commercializing their AI code generation framework and aim to help medium—to large software companies develop software more quickly and efficiently.
Entrepreneurial, money-related lessons learnt when starting out
Lesson #1: Find problem to solve, build a ‘minimum viable product’ (MVP) to validate the idea.
"You have to identify a problem worth solving, then develop a product – a minimum viable product (MVP) initially – that customers will love and pay for. Given the intense demands on a founder's time and resources, being involved in a field you're genuinely interested in is crucial,” added Hassani.
“You must then establish a market need and potential revenue before setting up a company license and a business bank account. AI has transformed many industries, and being at the forefront of this transformation is exciting and motivates me through the inevitable tough times of the startup journey.”
Multiple costs that go into a tech start-up in the UAE
In June 2022, when Hassani started the company, we were still figuring out our product. “Our initial costs included the company license fee for a Free Zone Establishment (FZE) in a UAE free zone, securing a website domain, and setting up App Store and Google Play Store accounts.
“For a business-to-consumer (B2C) product, consider costs for social media marketing. We bootstrapped enough to cover monthly marketing costs of around Dh8,000, annual licensing of around Dh9,000, and freelancer fees for specific tasks or deliverables that made more sense to outsource."
Lesson #2: Explore free zones or subsidy programs to help startups save, minimise costs.
"Some startup programs, such as the Dubai AI Campus focused on AI companies, and the Hub71 Incentive Program in Abu Dhabi for tech companies, subsidise setup costs. This approach helps save money and keeps you closely connected to your customers,” Hassani explained.
“This is crucial as your company and customer understanding evolve. While doing most things in-house, outsourcing 30 per cent of tasks made sense for us in terms of efficiency. We kept our burn rate as low as possible and logged everything in an expense tracker to analyse and optimise costs effectively."
Lesson #3: Participate in community groups, give back to the startup community.
Hassani, who loves playing polo and scuba diving in her free time, also enjoys mentoring first-time founders and youth who aspire to become entrepreneurs. “I advise on entrepreneurial programs and policies for various organizations and government bodies,” she added.
“My involvement extends to lecturing at New York University Abu Dhabi on policy design and the product mindset in government settings and serving on the advisory boards of the Middlesex Innovation Hub and the EWA Accelerator. I am always ready to help make connections and support founders wherever possible."
Lesson #4: Be mindful of recurring spending and avoid unnecessary subscriptions.
From a young age, Hassani learnt about compounding interest rates. "I've always set aside some money to invest, particularly in sectors that interest me, such as technology companies in semiconductors, clean energy, and robotics,” she shared.
“I prefer to invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in emerging technologies. I plan to get into angel investing, independently supporting startups solving big problems, such as generating renewable resources.
"Diversifying is key. Given how risky tech startups are, you need to think beyond just using your income or savings to fund your company. Setting aside funds for investments that generate passive income is crucial. Whether its real estate, stocks, or earning interest through banks, these investments can provide a financial safety net. When I started investing, I found tools like Sarwa, a robo-advisor, quite helpful. Another interesting platform is SmartCrowd, which allows fractional real estate investments."
