SEF 2026 Secures 17 Deals And AED 100 Million Financing For Startups

The Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival’s ninth edition, SEF 2026, recorded 17 Memorandums of Understanding at SEF Vault powered by Emarat, unlocking AED100 million in financing and formalising collaborations that back start-up funding, technology adoption, and market expansion across the UAE and wider region.

Hosted at the Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park, SEF 2026, themed Where We Belong, attracted more than 14,000 attendees and over 300 regional and international speakers, delivering upwards of 250 sessions and activities across 10 focused zones linked to entrepreneurship, investment, creativity, impact, and wellbeing.

The 17 MoUs signed at SEF Vault brought together government bodies, financial institutions, corporates, and ecosystem partners, creating structured pathways for funding, fintech solutions, artificial intelligence skills, advanced manufacturing pilots, and regional scaling, and marking one of the largest concentrations of deal activity in the festival’s history.

SEF Vault, the senior leadership networking lounge powered by Emirates Petroleum Company – Emarat, served as a closed environment for negotiations, where signatories aligned around strengthening every phase of the entrepreneurial journey, from early-stage capital and capability development to scale-up support, procurement access, and cross-border go-to-market strategies.

Capital access formed a central pillar of the agreements. Represented by CEO Sara Abdelaziz Al Nuaimi, the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre, Sheraa, signed multiple MoUs aimed at improving liquidity and financial infrastructure for early and growth-stage companies, ensuring founders could secure working capital while building long-term resilience.

A key financing partnership saw Sheraa and Zelo introduce a dedicated AED100 million pool and invoice financing tools to accelerate access to working capital for startups and SMEs, directly addressing persistent cash flow constraints that often appear during early scaling. CEO and Co-Founder of Zelo, Dhanush Arjun, witnessed the MoU signing.

Complementing this, Sheraa agreed a MoU with Emirates NBD to provide Sheraa-linked startups and SMEs with access to banking products structured for early-stage needs, supporting smoother cash management and scale-up readiness; the signing featured Hamad Mohamed Zayed, Group Head, Business Banking, at Emirates NBD, underlining banks’ role in ecosystem stability.

Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival SEF 2026 fintech and digital payments focus

Digital finance featured strongly through Sheraa’s collaboration with Al Fardan Exchange, which targeted improved access to fintech services and digital payment infrastructure, recognising that smooth remittances, international payments, and multi-currency capabilities are essential for startups entering regional and global markets; Hasan Jaber, CEO of AlfaNow, featured the MoU signing.

Additional sector partnerships broadened the network around Sheraa’s community. Ruwad and POPUP, ReLife and Tata Consultancy Services, and Tapy and Hlthera formalised agreements that link early-stage firms with larger enterprise partners across diverse industries, giving founders potential procurement channels, pilots, and sector-specific expertise to validate and refine their solutions.

Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival SEF 2026 AI, manufacturing and technology MoUs

Sheraa also prioritised future skills and deep technology, signing an MoU with Arabic.AI to deliver structured AI capability-building through the Arabic.AI Academy, where founders gain training, mentorship, and applied resources, with the agreement emphasising regionally grounded, Arabic-language AI solutions that align with real market needs; the MoU featured CEO Nour Al Hassan.

Advanced manufacturing was addressed through collaboration with Maxbyte, focused on industry-led pilots, youth-centred capacity building, and cooperation on the Access Sharjah Challenge. This partnership links engineering talent with industrial operators, helping startups move from prototype to scalable production; the signing included Viswanathan T, Chief Technology Officer of Maxbyte.

Further technology-focused collaboration emerged between Sheraa and HP, featuring Peter Oganesean, Managing Director of HP Middle East and East Africa. These agreements collectively signal that SEF 2026 treated digital infrastructure, hardware, and industry partnerships as central components of an innovation-led start-up ecosystem anchored in Sharjah and serving wider regional markets.

Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival SEF 2026 cross-border scale and SEF Vault role

Cross-border expansion was highlighted by an exclusive distribution agreement between PeykBot and Egrobots, designed to support PeykBot’s commercial rollout in Egypt and Saudi Arabia by using Egrobots’ established regional presence and channels; Founder of PeykBot, Salman Moghimi, and Co-Founder of Egrobots, Akhlad Alabhar, signed the deal within SEF Vault.

Procurement access and SME support were also advanced through Sheraa’s partnership with e&, which featured Group Chief Procurement Officer Saeed Alzarouni, further integrating startups into corporate supply chains and creating potential pathways for pilots, vendor status, and larger contracts that can accelerate revenue growth and validate early products in operational environments.

Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival SEF 2026 strategic vision for SEF Vault

Explaining the intent behind SEF Vault, Sara Abdelaziz Al Nuaimi, CEO of Sheraa, said, "SEF Vault reflects the essence of what the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival stands for: meaningful collaboration, shared ambition, and action-driven partnerships. By bringing together government, corporates, investors, and founders in a trusted space, we are accelerating opportunities that help startups scale, innovate, and contribute to a resilient and inclusive economy."

Al Nuaimi continued, "Partnerships forged at SEF Vault align directly with our longstanding commitment to advancing Sharjah’s innovation-led start-up ecosystem, where policy, capital, and talent converge. These collaborations empower founders to establish and scale ventures that deliver tangible value for the market and the wider community."

Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival SEF 2026 SEF Vault and Emarat partnership

Commenting on Emarat’s role, Ali Bin Zayed Al Falasi, Chief Retail Officer and Senior Vice President of Marketing at Emarat, stated that "Emarat is committed to empowering SMEs and supporting the national entrepreneurship ecosystem. We are proud to partner with SEF through initiatives such as SEF Vault powered by Emarat, creating meaningful platforms that support founders, strengthen the wider community, and advance the UAE’s innovation economy. Through SEF, Emarat provides startups with access to high-visibility retail spaces across our service station network, enabling them to showcase and scale their products. This approach reflects Emarat’s ongoing support for national businesses and its role in fostering sustainable economic growth. Across the UAE, Emarat undertakes numerous initiatives with the same purpose: fostering opportunity for local talent and entrepreneurs, enabling long-term growth, and strengthening the community’s economic resilience. I am delighted to see the level of interest and energy across the UAE’s startup ecosystem, and we remain committed to translating that momentum into tangible opportunities for founders to grow."

Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival SEF 2026 MoUs overview in SEF Vault

Beyond investment and deal-making, SEF Vault included curated cultural and culinary experiences that echoed SEF 2026’s focus on community, sustainability, and creativity. Ballad, created by Emirati artist and chef Moza Almatrooshi, presented a landscape-to-table approach linking food, art, and local environments through mindful sourcing and narrative-driven presentations.

SEF Vault also hosted a bespoke coffee-pairing concept from Palate, a Sharjah-based roastery founded by AeroPress Champion Mohammed Alameeri, using ethically sourced beans developed into original recipes in collaboration with Ballad and inspired by Sharjah’s landscapes, adding a sensory dimension to the festival’s wider innovation and community agenda.

Across SEF 2026, the scale of MoUs, sector diversity, and supporting cultural programming illustrated how Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival functions as a regional platform where policy-makers, founders, investors, and corporates coordinate practical support for start-ups, linking capital, skills, infrastructure, and market access within Sharjah and across neighbouring Middle East markets.

With inputs from WAM