Credits

Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund

Ministry of Finance, UAE

A UAE loan-guarantee scheme and innovation accelerator backed by an AED 2 billion fund.

Provider:
Ministry of Finance, UAE
Referral needed:
No

Why this could be a strong fit

Useful for teams standardizing on Ministry of Finance, UAE who want to offset general costs during the early build-out phase.

What you need to qualify

  • Your company is UAE based or you are looking to set up your business in the UAE in the near future.
  • Your business falls under one of the 7 UAE National Innovation Strategy priority sectors: technology, education, clean energy, water, transport, health or space.
  • Your novel technique, product, process or service is in a post ideation phase of development, and applicants typically have a working prototype.
  • Your business has strong market potential and the innovation can scale to large impact.
  • No age or nationality requirement applies to the founders.

Eligibility

Eligible stages
Pre-seed, Seed
Countries
Global, subject to the provider’s eligibility and approval

How to apply

  1. 1

    Check yourself against the four eligibility criteria

    UAE presence or intent, one of the 7 National Innovation Strategy priority sectors, post-ideation stage, and strong market potential. The Guarantee Scheme is a different offer and expects a product already commercialised with a clear path to breakeven.

  2. 2

    Create a company account on the application portal

    The Accelerator application runs on the fund's Cognistreamer portal, reached from mbrif.ae/program-selection-2. One login account is issued per company and multiple team members share it, so decide who owns it before you start.

  3. 3

    Stage one, eligibility

    Answer the online eligibility questions and submit a demo video and a pitch deck.

  4. 4

    Stage two, qualification

    Submit the pitch deck plus supporting business documents. Expect 2 to 3 weeks to prepare each stage, with a review window of about 2 weeks between stages.

  5. 5

    Stage three, evaluation

    Submit a pitch video for assessment.

  6. 6

    Stage four, pitch and Q&A

    Present to the MBRIF Advisory and Decision Committee. Remote participation is available for international applicants.

Frequently asked

No. The fund states that its member-centric focus means it does not take any equity stake, membership fees or success fees from you.

No cash comes from the Accelerator itself. What members get is tailored advisory, expert coaching, access to clients, partners and investors, and showcase opportunities. The fund's separate Guarantee Scheme is the financing route: it provides a government-backed credit guarantee so a company can borrow, and it is non-dilutive.

Overall the application process can take up to 4 months from initial application through to selection and announcement, with 2 to 3 weeks to answer each stage and about 2 weeks of review between stages.

Members are announced on a quarterly basis. The site publishes no fixed annual deadline, so register your interest on mbrif.ae to be told when the next application window opens.

Entrepreneurs of any nationality and any age whose company is in the UAE or is preparing to be, whose innovation sits in one of the 7 UAE National Innovation Strategy priority sectors, and whose product is past the idea stage, usually with a working prototype.
General

Related programs

We have not been able to confirm a deadline for this one. Check the official page before you start.

Do I qualify?

1 thing decides this one. Check yourself against them before you spend time on the form.

Stage
Pre-seed, Seed
Where you are incorporated
Global, subject to the provider’s eligibility and approval
Funding raised so far
No limit stated
Referral
Not needed. You can apply directly

That is the rulebook. What we cannot show you here is whether your startup clears it, how this ranks against the other programs you qualify for, and what to fix if you do not.

Check what I qualify for

Five questions, about a minute, no account needed.

Last verified against the official page. Report an error

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