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Scale7, the first fashion and design business incubator in Qatar founded by Qatar Development Bank (QDB) in partnership with M7, hosted the second edition of Demo Day.
Held under the patronage of HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums, Demo Day is dedicated to developing startups specialising in the fashion and design industry.
The event witnessed path-breaking pitches delivered by seven startups from the fashion and design domain, which successfully completed Scale7’s acceleration programme. The participating entrepreneurs showcased their designs and creative ideas to a broad audience that included investors, industry partners, aspiring entrepreneurs, and fashion tech enthusiasts with the aim of developing future partnerships to facilitate further growth of the startups.
Demo Day also hosted a panel discussion on the sidelines of the launch of the Italian platform, ‘Fashion Chain’, which is poised to be the first archive for luxury content related to fashion and designers, ranging from historical fashion designs to contemporary content including sketches, new concepts, and special content that have never been published, and much more.
Fashion Chain aims to be a reservoir of historical and contemporary fashion archives in the real world, which can also serve as an inspirational and insight-filled platform for creative thinkers and creators.
QDB acting CEO Abdulrahman Hesham al-Sowaidi said, “At QDB, we are always keen to support promising entrepreneurs, startups, and emerging businesses in the country and we strive to provide a holistic range of services to those with creative ideas or to existing projects that seek to accelerate and develop their business and play a significant role in supporting and diversifying the local economy.
“Through Scale7, we were able to provide the necessary support to talented entrepreneurs, designers, and startups operating in the fashion technology and design sector with the aim of transforming their ideas into reality or expanding their businesses in line with the growth witnessed in the country across all domains and segments.”
Al-Sowaidi said, “By adopting best practices in the fashion and design sector, Scale7 has been able to become a leading and influential platform, both locally and globally, and the main facilitator for developing and enhancing the creative and innovation ecosystem for entrepreneurs and Qatari designers. Over the past couple of years, Scale7 has truly become an attractive platform for all talented creators seeking knowledge and excellence.
“We take immense pride in witnessing the kind of success Scale7’s team has been able to achieve by incubating and accelerating the growth of more than 30 fashion and design tech startups. Scale7 has also been able to boost these young startups with investments of nearly QR3.5mn in the form of direct financing or integrated in-kind and logistical support. This platform provided more than 600 entrepreneurs the opportunity to be part of numerous workshops and seminars, which contributed to their holistic growth, taking their ventures from ideation to reality.”
He added: “We are delighted that a large number of startups in the field of fashion and design have committed to take advantage of the available opportunities, and we are confident that this second edition of Scale7’s Demo Day will encourage other budding fashion brands to take a leap of faith and start their pioneering journey.”
At the end of the event, the winning project was honoured under the Scale7 Passport Programme, which gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to explore their potential on an international level. The honour went to Fatima Asad, owner of Lovah by Fatima, who also received €10,000 to help her participate in international exhibitions with the aim of maximising brand exposure and accelerating growth.
Last updated: October 22 2022 09:11 PM
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