Khalifa Fund SME showcases at UAE date festivals

The Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development’s pavilion at the 22nd Liwa Date Festival (14‑23 July 2026) displayed 13 Emirati small‑ and medium‑sized enterprises spanning AI, green nanotechnology, fashion, heritage design, food & beverage, retail, perfume, photography and textiles. The exhibition linked traditional Emirati culture with modern entrepreneurship, offering the firms exposure to visitors, potential partners and wider markets alongside the Fund’s financing, advisory and capacity‑building services.

A week later, the Fund partnered with Hub71 for the inaugural MZN Hub71 Demo Day during the Al Ain Dates Festival (25‑31 July 2026). Seventeen Emirati founders presented ventures in AI, HealthTech, ClimateTech, FinTech and AgriTech, with the top three startups—Limb, Reach LLM and Hign Al Khaleej—receiving in‑kind support worth AED 100,000, AED 60,000 and AED 40,000 respectively. The Fund’s Al Ain pavilion showcased products and innovations from 11 SMEs covering food and beverages, smart agriculture, AI, honey, handicrafts, home goods and photography, facilitating consumer engagement and partnership building.

In early August, the Fund launched the three‑day “Future Founders Market” (7‑9 August 2026) at Bawadi Mall in Al Ain, the first market organised under its Future Entrepreneur Programme 2026. Young entrepreneurs designed, displayed and sold their products, receiving public feedback and gaining hands‑on experience in product development, branding and customer interaction, further nurturing a culture of entrepreneurship among the next generation.