Hub71’s head of strategy said that start-ups are more agile than traditional firms and can adapt quickly to face economic headwinds.
Start-ups in the UAE will have to adapt their business models in the face of changing consumer habits in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Ahmad Alwan, Head of Strategy and Corporate Development at Abu Dhabi’s Hub71.
Launched last year, Hub71 was designed to support tech start-ups by helping them with access to capital, market opportunities and a favourable business environment. It is backed by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala, with partners including Microsoft, SoftBank and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).
In an interview with Arabian Business, Alwan said the “challenges of the global pandemic mean that start-ups need to adapt their models”.
“Customer behaviours have adapted to the new reality and so start-ups looking to enter a marketplace, or create a new one, need to align their business models with new customer expectations.”
In this regard, however, Alwan said that start-ups are perhaps better suited to survive than larger, more traditional firms.
“Start-ups are by their nature more agile than larger corporates who are more set in their ways,” he said. “They also have a deep well of creativity and innovative thinking to draw on to address these new needs and capitalise on these opportunities.”
