BEEAH, Sheraa team up to launch DARE 2.0 innovation accelerator

Staff Reporter, Gulf Today

Sharjah: Sheikha Bodour Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of Sheraa, witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between BEEAH and the Sharjah Entrepreneurship centre (Sheraa) to launch DARE 2.0, a co-branded internal innovation accelerator designed to embed intrapreneurship across BEEAH and translate employee ideas into scalable business impact.

The MoU was signed by Khaled Al Huraimel, Group CEO and Vice Chairman of BEEAH, and Sara Abdelaziz Al Nuaimi, CEO of the Sharjah Entrepreneurship centre (Sheraa). It formalizes a collaboration that applies Sheraa’s accelerator expertise to BEEAH’s internal innovation priorities, which support the Group’s diversified operations across environment, technology, healthcare, energy, and real estate. DARE 2.0 is an employee-led programme that enables BEEAH employees to act like founders, dedicating structured time, supported by mentorship and resources, to develop ideas that address real, operational, and strategic challenges across the organisation. The programme is designed to strengthen a culture of intrapreneurship, encouraging experimentation while keeping innovation closely aligned with business needs.

Delivered through a structured accelerator format, DARE 2.0 supports participants from ideation through validation and prototyping. It combines curated workshops, expert mentorship, and active engagement from BEEAH leadership, ensuring that ideas are both commercially grounded and operationally relevant.

By creating a clear pipeline from idea generation to pilot and scale, DARE 2.0 is intended to generate high potential concepts that can be implemented across BEEAH’s operations. The programme reflects BEEAH’s ongoing investment in its people and its focus on building the organization’s innate capabilities to innovate solutions with tangible, organization-wide impact.

Commenting on the launch, Khaled Al Huraimel, Group CEO and Vice Chairman of BEEAH, said: “Real innovation does not only come from new technologies; it comes from empowering people to challenge how things are done and to build better solutions from within. DARE 2.0 gives our teams the structure, time and leadership support to turn ideas into action, while ensuring those ideas are directly connected to BEEAH’s operational and strategic priorities. Working with Sheraa allows us to bring accelerator discipline and ecosystem thinking into BEEAH’s corporate setting, where ideas can move quickly from concept to impact.” Sara Al Nuaimi, CEO of Sheraa, said: “DARE 2.0 reflects a deliberate approach to internal innovation, one that treats employee-led ideas with the same rigour, clarity, and accountability applied to ventures. By adapting Sheraa’s accelerator model to BEEAH’s enterprise context, the programme creates a structured pathway for ideas to be tested, refined, and scaled in ways that support organizational performance and long-term value creation.” The collaboration builds on the shared commitment of BEEAH and Sheraa to foster innovation, develop talent, and apply intrapreneurship principles to solving complex sustainability and operational challenges within an enterprise environment.

BEEAH’s innovation-driven approach is reflected across its five integrated verticals spanning Environment, Technology, Healthcare, Energy, and Real Estate. In Environment, BEEAH has developed one of the region’s most advanced waste management ecosystems, enabling over 90 per cent landfill diversion in Sharjah. In Energy, it is advancing waste to energy, hydrogen from waste, and solar solutions, including the expansion of the Sharjah Waste to Energy plant. In Technology, BEEAH is driving digital transformation through ventures such as re.life, EVOTEQ, ION, and the development of Sharjah’s first Tier III sustainable data centre. In Healthcare, it is developing the Jawaher Boston Medical District alongside circular medical waste solutions and digital pharmaceutical traceability platforms. In Real Estate, BEEAH is shaping next generation urban environments through projects such as Khalid Bin Sultan City, designed as a model for net-zero-ready, smart, and people-centric living.

BEEAH is a sustainability and innovation pioneer, creating solutions for a sustainable future across the sectors of environment, energy, healthcare, technology, and real estate. Headquartered in Sharjah, UAE, BEEAH operates in the Middle East and North African region as a diversified holding group, enhancing quality of life for generations beyond tomorrow.

The Sharjah Entrepreneurship centre (Sheraa) has been instrumental in creating a seamless journey for entrepreneurs in Sharjah, building a holistic ecosystem for founders that guides them from idea stage through to building their prototypes and taking them to market. Through their two hubs at the heart of the American University of Sharjah and University of Sharjah, Sheraa has empowered over 18,000 youth through their Startup Dojo programme, supported over 500 exceptionally talented founders in their community, and incubated the growth of over 180 ventures that have generated $248MM+ in revenue, raised $171MM+ in investments, and created 1,900+ jobs. Through Sheraa’s Centers of Excellence, startups in the Cultural and Creative Industries, Advanced Manufacturing, Cleantech and Sustainable Technologies, and Edtech and Digital Learning sectors have access to invaluable support from corporate partners, tailored guidance from prominent experts, regulatory insights from policymakers, technological resources from leading global providers, and financial backing from VCs and strategic investors. Sheraa also hosts the annual Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival, which has welcomed over 30,000 attendees since 2017 and cemented Sharjah’s reputation as a leading destination for changemakers.