{"id":24096,"date":"2023-09-08T13:31:44","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T13:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/?p=24096"},"modified":"2023-09-08T13:31:44","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T13:31:44","slug":"majid-al-futtaim-launchpad-x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/2023\/09\/08\/majid-al-futtaim-launchpad-x\/","title":{"rendered":"Majid Al Futtaim rolls out concept store Launchpad X for local start-ups"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- VideographyWP Plugin Message: Automatic video embedding prevented by plugin options. --><br \/>\n<span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">UAE&#8217;s shopping mall operator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/2023\/08\/09\/majid-al-futtaim\/\">Majid Al Futtaim<\/a> has unveiled a new concept store Launchpad X at City Centre Mirdif, dedicated to start-ups and SMEs in the Mena region.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It features brands developed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.menabytes.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">start-ups<\/a>, as well as entrepreneurs who won in Majid Al Futtaim\u2019s accelerator programme, which was launched last year to promote entrepreneurship and support SMEs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Managing director of the UAE shopping malls at Majid Al Futtaim Properties, Fuad Mansoor Sharaf, said: \u201cWe are confident that Launchpad X will not only connect the region\u2019s leading start-ups to new opportunities that strengthen their commercial footprint but also be a catalyst for innovation and a powerful force for driving the region\u2019s economic development.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The store also features products from SMEs from around the region.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Product offerings include home fragrances, fashion and home essentials, loungewear as well as snacks and ethnic crafts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Last year, Mena start-ups raised nearly $4 billion across 795 deals, securing about $101 million last month, according to\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Wamda<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">However, year-on-year, the funding amount suffered a steeper 73 per cent decline.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Last month, <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Majid Al Futtaim Retail launched a retail graduate programme in collaboration with 12 top universities across six countries, namely Egypt, Georgia, Jordan, Kenya, Pakistan and the UAE.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The move sought to empower and recruit 75 graduates of various nationalities for its regional Carrefour\u00a0operations, allocating 50 per cent of the positions to talented female candidates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shopping mall operator Majid Al Futtaim has introduced a new concept store Launchpad X for regional start-ups and SMEs <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":22279,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,4106],"tags":[3944,4321],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24096"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24096"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24097,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24096\/revisions\/24097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}