Dubai startups vie for the prize at GCC Pitch Challenge

More than 60 Dubai-based entrepreneurs applied but only 10 had the chance to take part in the third edition of the GCC Pitch Challenge. Held at the In5 innovation center it was finally two entrepreneurs who won after a long day of pitching and mentoring.

The winners were shopshopme.com, a sort of directory for retails stores in the UAE, and Bridg a smartphone payment platform targeting emerging markets.

Shopshopme.com, who, according to their founder Mustafa Mahmoud, hopes to become the Google for retail in the UAE is a website striving to democtratize the online shopping experience. People will often visit a number of sites first, namely Souq.com, followed by Namshi, MarkaVIP, and even JadoPado, to compare, but this site is hoping to rid the consumer of the time spent on this and allow users to find a product in just one search.

Bridg’s founder Moussa Beidas, explained that the application is an innovative platform that allows direct interaction between consumers and sellers using Bluetooth technology. The app is not on the market yet; however, it will be taking part in The Next Web in Amsterdam next month.

The other entrepreneurs that participated in the event included Loadme, an Uber for the trucking industry; Crowd Analyzer, the first Arabic focused social media monitoring platform; Vidium an instant video messaging service; Short Point, an easier and better way to design websites; Melltoo, the first used parts mobile social network; Nite Kite an app that links users to new friends and social hot spots; White, a payment platform; and 3asafeer, a site for children’s digital storybooks.