Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) 2022 concludes as investors leave reinvigorated to finance start-ups

AIM 2022 offered a multicultural confluence of innovation and investment, enabling networking across all levels of business over a three-day period.

EXPO 2020 Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 31 March 2022: The 11^th edition of the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) witnessed the participation of several high-profile public and private sector companies this year. Companies of all sizes were welcomed at the global event as dignitaries and delegates met with businesses and explored investment opportunities, both, locally and globally. Potential investors and exhibitors networked over three days and MoUs were signed, and deals were struck.

Present at the event this year were start-ups like Roaya and Zhome as well as government-backed agencies like APIEx representing the Republic of Benin’s government and Modon representing Saudi Arabia. The melting pot of investments and business was attended by industry experts, representatives from multi-national corporations like KPMG.

This year the event also witnessed the participation of several potential investors and visitors looking for funding and investment opportunities. It also witnessed the presence of corporate leaders, policymakers, businessmen, regional and international investors, entrepreneurs, leading academics, experts, and stakeholders from over 174 countries in Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. 

In addition, high-level officials including heads of state, government ministers, and other top public officials joined prominent global business figures, experts, and representatives of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and business councils.

Africa-centric operations throughout Day 3

In a regional focus session called “Africa – Implications of the African Continental Free Trade Area for the Demand for Transport Infrastructure and Service”, the importance of intra-Africa laws and regulations that support trade, investment and development were the recurring themes. Furthermore, how aggregating data from many sources help improve analytics and this can result in projects developing rapidly across Africa, cementing themselves as platforms.

APIEx, is the operational arm of the Republic of Benin’s development policy and is the main tool set up by the government to promote investments and exports and promote Benin as a preferred destination for investors. Through various services offered by the agency including business formalization, information, orientation, support for investors and exporters, business networking, facilitation of relations with the private sector, promoting local products and facilitating their access to foreign markets.

Berenger Dossour-Yovo, Business Advisor, APIEx (Republic of Benin) said, “It’s a big event with a lot of people and the organizational team has worked extremely hard to help us get the desired reach. We had the opportunity to present our company’s agenda through a panel which enabled us to converse with the audience and inform people learn about our company.”

Tech-based companies meet investors and increase brand visibility

Yoshi Markets is a digi-tech company specializing in digital assets like cryptocurrency and Non-Fungible Tokens or NFTs. It is also regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) as a Multilateral Trading Facility. The company also provides direct access to investors to trade virtual assets without the need to trade through a broker which in turn results in reduced fees, while boasting a purpose-built IT security infrastructure to ensure virtual assets of clients are held in a highly secure environment.

Ithar Al Zou’bi, Marketing and PR Manager, Yoshi Markets, said, “It was great, AIM is esteemed, and it’s been happening for a few years, so it’s well-established. Additionally, we also had the opportunity to speak on stage and talk about our services which helps when the reach to the audience is direct and so large as well.”

Roaya is the official exclusive partner of WorldPosta in the MENA region, specializing in design, providing, and operating cloud computing and business mail services. The company has witnessed a 400% growth whilst servicing over 300 clients in three years ranging endeavouring to expand its reach from three continents to across the world. The company is looking for investors to help the company growth their existing products – CloudEdge, CloudSpace and Posta.

Eng. Diyaa Oda, CEO, Roaya said, “We’re looking for investments to expand our company’s reach, especially in the Gulf region along with Pakistan and India. Our company focuses on cloud service, a service that anyone could join, and with businesses being so open to adopting technology now, AIM provides us with the perfect platform for our company.”

Junior Kiluba, CEO, Vi1dealer.com, “For a startup like us meeting like-minded individuals is so important. I was able to meet investors and received feedback from investors that had the same passions that align with Vi1dealer.com. And through meeting some investors, we realized that we could simulate their parts as well. This was an eye-opener, I was able to learn so much about valuation through the SME conferences and panels, and now I can work on my pitch. This experience is something I will take home.”

Renis Toelovskis, Co-Founder, My3Dcloud (Latvia), “Cloud computing is already a big thing but doesn’t get the recognition it deserves, AIM recognizes the need to mention and talk about emerging tech for businesses to adapt to and gives us the platform to fulfil that gap in the market. I think it’s a great conference as it brings together active investors and industry leaders, and we’re able to see and learn about technological trends, which is important to us. Especially has been a great conference and we’ve met a lot of people whose interests align with ours and would like to come back next year. Adding to that, while we didn’t manage to get any deals done yet, we did manage to get a lot of potential leads and hopefully, by the end of next week it all works out.”

Zhome provides business solutions enabling companies to easily integrate innovative Smart Home technology into their offerings. The company also customizes packages to cater for each business or individual’s needs with evaluations from experts for free and aims to work with energy providers, mobile operators, property managers, insurance, the health care sector and real estate development.

Ahmed Elgarhy, Co-Founder and CEO, Zhome, (Egypt) “Our mission is to transform every customer’s life to be smart, connected and more enjoyable, and this was the spot to display what our service could really do. The moment we explained that our smart homes would make life easier, potential investors poured in and we’ve had multiple meetings lined up. Adding to that, our corporate framework has progressed significantly as well as our brand visibility.”

Spectre Solutions is led by a team of engineers that specialize in the area of drones, which produces UAVs that provide a full set of inspection and monitoring services, helping the business become more effective, cheaper to maintain and safer for employees.

Sebastian Konkol, Chief Information Officer, Spectre Solutions, “Our product is a drone that is able to take off and land vertically without any supporting infrastructure, reach speeds of 140 km/h and can operate at an altitude of 1000m as well as be used as an aeroplane and a copter. As a Polish company, we’re looking to expand our company presence in the GCC and globally and in addition to that we’re also building a factory here in the GCC, Africa and Asia. We have finished the final model of the drone and have conducted talks with Mr. Crispin Mbadu Phanzu, Vice-Minister of Planning, Congo. AIM has given us the platform to connect with investors and dignitaries like Mr. Crispin Mbadu Phanzu, to display our product not only toa the local market but also to others from across the world.

AIM provides a platform for networking and propagates global investment

Dignitaries and representatives from various countries like – D.R. Congo, Nigeria, Niger, Morocco, Indonesia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus and much more – joined AIM over a three-day span to build their network as well as seek investment for their innovations, businesses, real estate and more.

Manthia Kyriacou, Investment Promotion Associate, Invest Cyprus, “We enjoyed the exhibition very and being involved with IPAs ourselves, we learned a lot from the FPI & FDI session, they were very insightful. Truthfully, it’s just better than the other exhibitions we’ve gone to since it helped us expand our network a lot, within the region as well as globally, which will help us with global investments. Now people know about us, not just in Cyprus, but also across the world.”