Tech innovations in the UAE will only continue to rise

UAE will become faster at adapting to trends and more importantly, setting them

By Rami Shaar

Published: Fri 3 Dec 2021, 3:33 PM

Globally, the UAE is known as a country that pushes the envelope like few others can. By going above and beyond expectations, we have shown that ideas can easily become reality, given the right push. It is due to this spirit that startups in the country have been flourishing.

As the UAE continues to improve all aspects of life on diverse fronts — such as investment, technology, health, and sustainability — we plan to adopt a similar approach in the laundry industry. The UAE is a tech-advanced society. It only grows more adept to the blinding speed at which technology is evolving.

Tech-based businesses are welcomed into the fold and granted a leg up on the competition. I believe if a business has a convenience-based model, value, and is reliable, it will succeed.

Certain benchmarks must be met to show progression in a business and since its inception, Washmen has been through multiple rounds of funding, which shows faith from credible investors.

The country does give you an array of tools that make things easier to kick off. Home-grown businesses are given maximum support. Being a melting pot of over 200 nationalities also makes this the perfect market mix to launch a new product in. What is difficult, however, is survival. There is a lot of competition and startups can quickly lose their footing in a rapidly changing environment. In fact, by 2031, the UAE aims to become home to 20 ‘unicorns’, or startups that are worth more than $1 billion each, a minister was quoted as saying in a recent interview.

The key here is to invest in your research and CRM departments. We’ve learnt that with the focus on improvements and maximising the reach to clients, while keeping the business mostly online, one can create a loyal customer base.

After operating this business in the country for five years, I would give credit to our customers — who despite needing education on the nature of service at the start — were quick to adapt. Now, getting their laundry done is just a few taps and clicks away.

What lies ahead is an inevitably mass surge in tech-driven alternatives to quickly bring staple industries and companies into the 21st century with convenient digital solutions. This, keeping in light the current trend of digitising and disrupting all fields in each industry, especially the ignored B2B fields at the moment.

Also, as online retailers venture into the physical space and vice-versa, it’s increasingly clear that the retail industry is moving into the omnichannel experience, which seamlessly blends the online and offline realms. Washmen, too, has launched its first-ever physical location.

I see a future where the UAE becomes faster at adapting to trends and more importantly, setting them.

(The author is the co-founder and CEO of Washmen, a digital laundry and dry-cleaning service in the UAE)