Earlier this month, the four winning teams from Intelak, which means ‘take off’ in Arabic, successfully pitched to investors, showcasing their hard work over the last four months to turn brilliant startups into viable businesses. The Incubator, founded by the Emirates Group, GE, and Etisalat Digital, gives innovators, entrepreneurs, and students from across the UAE the opportunity to submit their business concepts, and receive capital funding and incubator support.

The creative ideas, which aim to enhance passengers’ travel experience in the air or on the ground, were presented by four teams comprising of 16 carefully chosen entrepreneurs. They were selected for their innovative concepts which involve the creation of a brand-new food tray (Conceptualisers), a baggage transport application (Dubz), a new kind of travel app (Insaafer), and a hardware + software IOT technology to check bags in from the car (Storage-i).

Before reaching this final stage of the programme, the four start-ups received 50,000 AED in capital, and had access to key training modules and mentors over a period of four months. The teams were connected to various departments across the Emirates Group, GE and Etisalat Digital, as well as to external companies and mentors for consultation and guidance.

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“The Intelak journey has shown us that the UAE has become home to many inspiring entrepreneurs who are eager to think, create and develop creative solutions to enhance the future of travel. The winnings teams and individuals have proven to be successful entrepreneurs and emerging leaders as I’ve seen them over the past four months turn what was merely a thought into a pragmatic, achievable reality,” said Aya Sadder, Intelak’s Programme Manager.

Intelak was launched in September 2016 by the Emirates Group, in collaboration with GE and Etisalat Digital. All submissions were focused on the travel and aviation sector, and sought to make passengers’ travel journeys simpler, better or more exciting.

The submissions for Intelaks' second cohort commence in May 2017 and the winners will be announced in October later this year. All innovators, entrepreneurs and students from across the UAE are invited to apply by submitting their innovative travel and aviation solutions on www.intelak.com.