AstroLabs partnered with The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) to launch the 2-year Vibes AlUla SME Enablement Program, which graduated its second cohort last October. 

“RCU strongly believes in the role of SMEs in unlocking the full potential of AlUla as the world’s largest living museum. Over the past two cohorts, the program surpassed expectations in building strategic partnerships, creating jobs, introducing digital innovation, and invigorating the SME ecosystem with AlUla’s rising entrepreneurs. The diligence and hands-on approach of the AstroLabs team in working with our SMEs to unlock their full potential is commendable. Hearing entrepreneurs pitch their businesses with confidence, and professional visual aids was an astonishing closure of the second cohort,” Abobakar A Alanazi, SME Enablement Programme Manager at the Royal Commission for AlUla, said.

This program enables and accelerates the growth of SMEs in AlUla by designing accelerated business tracks that provide business and market analysis, mentorship, optimization, and market outreach, as well as partnership establishment and strategy execution.

AstroLabs designed the program to empower SMEs in sectors that go in line with Saudi’s Vision 2030 capitalizing on AlUla’s rich heritage and natural resources. Some of these sectors are travel & tourism, e-commerce, Food & Beverage, and Agriculture, among others.

The second cohort of SMEs was able to create 38 new job opportunities, launch 36 new products, establish 15 new commercial registrations, launch two new equestrian farms, and establish 85 new strategic partnerships to support the SMEs in their scaling strategies.