At this year’s Arabian & African Hospitality Investment Conference and Global Restaurant Investment Forum, serial entrepreneur Ian Ohan, founder and CEO of KRUSH Brands officially announced the launch of Rise Up, Dubai’s first food accelerator contest.

• Rise Up is a nationwide call, to anyone who believes they have an idea, a product, a business that needs a little help and the right infrastructure to thrive.
• Rise Up wants to find the best and brightest culinary talents and entrepreneurial thinkers in the UAE.
• Winners will receive coaching, get access to a long list of industry expertise, and operational know-how.
  
  

From the dark of the pandemic, we Rise Up. Together.

The great recession of 2009 was exactly what Dubai F&B needed. It cleaned up an oversaturated landscape, full of boring, unimaginative venues, kept alive by a steady stream of hungry investors and even hungrier tourists.

History will also show us that Covid 19 was, in some ways, good for the food and beverage industry of Dubai.

Covid has forced innovation. It’s accelerated the marriage of tech and food, of digital and analogue. It has re-defined the boundaries in which food can operate. It has shone a light on some of the industry’s “shadows”, bringing light and understanding where there was once darkness and confusion. It has created a fragmented marketplace that is ripe for new relationships and collaborations.

Never in Dubai’s illustrious 50-year history has so much “domestic” talent been available yet not used. However, talent rarely stays still for long, and nor should it.

Dubai has innovation, ambition, and opportunity as part of it’s DNA. Dubai has entrepreneurship and success coursing through its veins and food is its heartbeat.

However, launching or even running a business can be overwhelming. Considerations like licenses, facilities, tech, staffing, marketing, all come into play when establishing a business. The most talented and determined often need support and guidance to succeed.

Enter Rise Up DXB, Dubai’s first food accelerator contest. Rise Up wants to find the best and brightest culinary talents and entrepreneurial thinkers; to foster the growth of start-up concepts and businesses and capitalize on Dubai’s culture of drive, ambition, entrepreneurship, and success.

Rise Up DXB & Krush Brands are looking for glimmers of inspiration and innovation, glinting in the ashes of this pandemic.

All that is needed to enter this foodpreneur contest is a great product, a defined purpose, an obsession about customers and of course, drive and determination.

Powered by Krush Brands, the winners will receive coaching, and get access to a long list of industry experts available to provide unique assistance in build, fit-out, marketing, menu development, business advice and more.

Resources will be available, whether it is desk space, wifi and a good coffee machine or graphic design, videography and business admin, Krush Brands offers it all.

Finally, there is a valuable community of like-minded, talented F&B entrepreneurs and operators, who have built a positive, encouraging environment. A haven for budding talent to build a legacy for their future.

This is a nationwide call, to anyone who believes they have an idea, a product, a business that needs a little help and the right infrastructure to thrive. A culinary spark that can be nurtured into a roaring flame, felt and seen across the region.

From the dark of the pandemic, we rise up. Together.

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About KRUSH Brands

KRUSH Brands is a locally owned “made in the UAE”, full-service, multi-kitchen, brand development, operating and franchising company. Developing and partnering with cool local brands that you love, bound together by technology, convenient and reliable, better-for-you food, from a company that cares.

KRUSH Brands owns and operates Freedom Pizza, Wildflower Poke & More, Coco Yogo Vegan Kitchen, Salad Jar, and has recently partnered with local, lovable brands Jet Lagged Chef and Viking Bageri with more brands coming soon.

It also owns Big Dwarf Food Technology that develops KRUSH Brands’ proprietary digital, online ordering, operating and delivery platforms and has recently developed Locale - the only full-stack, food technology, restaurant and delivery company, that owns its entire value chain.

Locale is positioned to capture the exponential growth of the online food and cloud kitchen market and will power all KRUSH Brands with proprietary technology, a robust delivery platform and its fleet of professional delivery drivers delivering fast, fresh and safe, every time.