You may have noticed a series of workshops that keep popping up at Shelter, all dedicated to supporting aspiring social entrepreneurs. These events are the work of a new community organization dedicated to making real positive change in the MENA region. As C3: Consult and Coach for a Cause enters into its fourth workshop cycle, we invited C3 blogger Tena Pick to share the organization's story and…

For the past month at Shelter Dubai, we have been hosting business law workshops for aspiring entrepreneurs. Workshops are led by Ludmilla Yamalova, the founder HPL Yamalova and Plewka, a JLT-based law firm specializing in employment law in the UAE. The final workshop, Commercial Real Estate Law will be held on Wednesday, April 10th at 6:30pm at Shelter Dubai. Below is a review of the first two workshops, held March 13th and March…

In this short series, we turn the spot light on small businesses and social enterprises that are inspiring entrepreneurs in the UAE. 

Our Road from Denial to Self Discovery - by Danish Farhan

Disruption Led by Pixels

Let’s face it: regardless of industry, globalisation punched each of us in the gut–and hard. The very nature of competition mutated—and not just in…

Are You a Maker?



Tinker with robots? Launch marshmallow rockets? Design your own clothes or cards? Invent things? Decorate cakes? Make mini-figurines? Well, then you are a maker! Makers can create things that are useful, fun, or just quirky.



And hundreds of Makers will…

You are making money in a business that you have started, either all by yourself or with a cofounder or two. You have a small but dedicated core of customers, but are ready to expand to a larger market. To do this, you…

On Sunday, January 20th, over 75 people arrived at Shelter Dubai for the New Entrepreneur Roundtable: The Creatives. Four creatives merging fashion with business acumen shared their experiences of starting up fashionably in the UAE.

Loretta…

The big neon sign on Sheikh Zayed Road caught my attention. “The World’s First Fully Sustainable Store.”



A billboard like that doesn’t make sense on the twelve-lane super highway. Along the endless bike paths of the Pacific Northwest, yes. But Dubai?…

The next stretch in your yoga class? The next stretch of your flight? The next stretch... of your mind?



Al Ain-based entrepreneurs Sajjad and Shahed Kamal hope so. As two of the co-founders of the web-based course-registration platform…

My mother, with the purse (and dog) in question.

The family dog lay happily in the middle of a mountain of discarded wrapping paper, and my mother squealed with delight as she added to…

This blog is part of the “Entrepreneurial Women” series. Each month, Shelter will interview groundbreaking female entrepreneurs who have grown successful businesses here in Dubai and in the broader region. Sometimes we’ll tell a story, sometimes we will bullet-list advice, and sometimes we’ll just let you know what these daring ladies are up to. Whatever the format, we hope you leave inspired!…

As an educator, I am drawn to stories of…

Introducing the “Entrepreneurial Women” series. Each month, Shelter will interview groundbreaking female entrepreneurs who have grown successful businesses here in Dubai and in the broader region. Sometimes we’ll tell a story, sometimes we will bullet-list advice, and sometimes we’ll just let you know what these daring ladies are up to. Whatever the format, we hope you leave inspired!

 …

Starting in November and running for three consecutive Saturdays, local entrepreneurs Rama Chakaki (Founder, Baraka) and Medea Nocentini (Founder, Consult and Coach for a Cause) will…

A year ago, Ali Razouk and Abdullah Khan were first year college students at UOWD with an idea and a heavy workload. Twelve months later, the computer science students are launching their first, independently developed mobile app to the Apple…

There are three things that most entrepreneurs need in order to develop their business ideas into successful enterprises: a dynamic and inspiring place to work, patient and knowledgeable mentors and funding. Seed accelerators are startup incubators custom-built to this purpose, providing…

Jatta Tjurin will be offering a free yoga course designed with entrepreneurs and professionals in mind at Shelter on Saturday the 22nd of September. Although yoga and entrepreneurship might seem like an unusual…

Earlier this week, I found myself in lime green room packed with utilitarian office fixtures and smelling strongly of coffee and pizza dough. An old table was covered in laptops and papers and the walls were scrawled with quick notes and vacation reminders in dry-erase marker. 



I was in the N_K_D Pizza main office - next to Naked…

You have a great idea for a product or service. Your friends think its amazing. Everyone is telling you to “go for it,” but taking the leap into the field of entrepreneurship is challenging. How do you write a business plan? Pitch to investors? Manage costs?



For busy…

Arab entrepreneurs are getting set to leap into action as the heat of summer (finally) starts to wane. With conferences and contests in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi already filling the fall calendar, it is time for entrepreneurs in…

The first Future Innovation Lab will be held at Shelter Dubai on Tuesday, August 28th. The Lab will be an open platform for discussion and reflection that seeks to change the fundamental ways that we solve problems in our communities. We interview host Kamyar Houbakht about the goals of the meet-up and the path that had led him to…