The Sharjah Entrepreneurship centre (Sheraa), in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and Youth, recently launched the Access Sharjah Challenge, an integrated platform that connects digital startups to relevant public and private entities in Sharjah and across the UAE, with the aim of contributing to the development and growth of the nation’s creative economy.

Under the presence of Sheikha Bodour Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of Sheraa, and Noura Bint Mohammad Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Youth, American University of Sharjah (AUS) professor Sohail Dahdal and Emirati founders Noura Kalban and Alia Lootah were named winners of the game-changing competition, during the challenge’s awarding ceremony.

In strategic partnership with the Sharjah Museums Authority, Air Arabia and Alef Group the challenge was launched to empower founders leading the path in building a thriving creative economy by building sustainable businesses.

Najla Al Midfa, CEO of Sheraa, said, “The Access Sharjah Challenge addresses one of the most critical as well as perennial challenges that startups all over the world face - gaining access to markets. The programme is designed to serve not only as a launch pad for innovative startups into the UAE and regional markets, but also supports their growth in the creative sectors while furthering the emirate’s vision to be a global destination for high impact businesses.”

She added: “The applications and submissions we received from startups coming from all around the world symbolise the growing ecosystem of impactful ideas in the creative sector, and how each founder has the potential to create positive influences within the UAE economy and help stimulate innovation in the region. We look forward to helping the winners grow their ideas into full-fledged ventures that contribute actively to Sharjah’s and the UAE’s economy.”

Access Sharjah Challenge consisted of two strikingly different contests –Al Makan Challenge, that invited innovative ideas to liberate artefacts and art from display cases and frames of museums; and Al Multaqa Challenge, that called for novel re-imagining of how people can come together in one place to belong in the moment and truly connect with one another.

Professor Dahdal won Al Makan Challenge, which was supported by Sharjah Museums Authority and Air Arabia, for his ‘5th Wall’; a first-of-its-kind immersive experience that breaks the boundaries of storytelling in substance and form and engages today’s youth in the story of their past with tools of the future. The 5th Wall places equal value on both story, technology and experienced 3D artists, developers, scriptwriters, and filmmakers work collaboratively to merge both story and tech to great effect.

Noura Kalban and Alia Lootah triumphed in Al Multaqa Challenge, supported by Alef Group, for the creation of the ‘Expression Room’ located at their ‘Medaf Creative Studio + Art Spaces’. At the ‘Expression Room’ where the floors and walls become an open canvas, budding artists can freely express their inner thoughts through art without any restrictions. The Medaf Studio was designed to ignite the creativity and curiosity of tomorrow’s innovators through multi-disciplinary art practices that target building and developing the skillsets of children as well as adults through art-related workshops.

Both winners received equity-free prizes of $50,000 each, which included $25,000 to bring their projects to life with the help of the supporting entities, $15,000 in cash and $10,000 towards business setup support; in addition to operational business support services including discounted office space and banking services; mentoring from Sheraa’s in-house team and their community of mentors, as well as access to target markets.

Speaking about their experience, Medaf co-founders; Alia Lootah and Noora Bin Kalban said: “We’re so thrilled to have been part of this journey with Sheraa. Participating in the Access Sharjah Challenge was a learning experience for us which allowed us to step out of our comfort zone to come up with a creative and fun solution that will re-imagine how people can truly connect with each other. At Medaf we aim to bridge the gap of creativity and make art accessible for people of all ages. We look forward to implementing this idea and sharing it with as many people as possible.”