Etisalat announced the winners of its inaugural ‘SMB Awards 2018’ in Grand Gala event to recognise and celebrate the outstanding achievements of small and medium businesses (SMBs) and start-ups in the UAE. 

The prestigious inaugural awards function was attended by Ali Ibrahim, Deputy Director General, Department of Economic Development, Dubai and Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO, Dubai SME along with senior management from Etisalat. 

Black Tulip Flowers was named SMB of the Year, while The Digital Transformation Award was presented to Jackys Business Solution and Farmchip General Trading picked up the Start-up of the Year. 

Meanwhile, IRIS Health Services received the Innovation Award, while the Positive Social Impact Award was given to Toys with Wings. Junkbot Robotics scooped the Young Entrepreneur Award and RPMA Communication & Wireless System Equipment walked away with the Technology Disruptor Award. 

The SMB Awards received an overwhelming response with great submissions from Entrepreneurs and SMBs across all industries. In addition to the previous awards, Enerwhere Sustainable Energy won the Sustainability Award, while the Community Care Award was presented to Rahma-Cancer Patient Care Society. A.J. Arabia was named Emirati Entrepreneur and the final Smart Solutions Award was picked up by Farnek Services. 

Esam Mahmoud, Senior Vice President, SMB, Etisalat, said: “We launched ‘SMB Awards’ 2018 to recognise the outstanding achievements of SMBs and start-ups in the UAE and celebrate the wealth of excellence and innovation in our industry At Etisalat, we are driven by our service mantra for SMBs, which is ‘Your Business Grows with Us’. We had an overwhelming response to our inaugural awards and look forward to welcoming small businesses and startups in next year’s competition.” 

The SMB sector plays an important role in the UAE economy, accounting for 86 percent of the total private sector workforce and more than 60 percent of the country’s current GDP. Etisalat currently serves more than 300,000 SMB customers in the country, working closely with them in their digital transformation journey. 

The SMB Awards, launched in October last year, recognises individual and group performance. Kreston Menon was Etisalat’s third-party auditor for the Awards.