TURN8, the successful seed accelerator initiative founded by DP World that encourages entrepreneurship and innovation, has selected nine new start-ups for investment as part of round five of its programme Some 23 start-up companies at a market value of US $30 million have been established since the beginning of Turn8. The latest round follows a selection process to identify start-ups that have a promising business concept and who have had some experience testing the market. The international reach covers global markets with participants from the UAE (Dubai), Spain, Russia and Chile, the first South American start-up applicant.

Yousif Al-Mutawa, Chief Information Officer at DP World , said: "This latest round reinforces the international flavour of the programme and proves that innovation is a global phenomenon. We are delighted to welcome the new applicants to Dubai, which once again is demonstrating its commitment to innovation in line with the vision of our leaders. DP World continues to take an active interest in establishing a culture of innovation in the UAE and Turn8 is a premier example of that effort."

Teams have already been flown down to Dubai and will soon begin the four-month mentorship programme to refine their business idea and gain practical training on how to run a successful enterprise backed by seed funding of US $30,000 to help them develop their projects.

TURN8 is a technology start-up accelerator launched by DP World in 2013 to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship globally. Teams are selected from dozens of hopefuls that pitch their ideas at TURN8 events and via an online application.
Source: WAM