May 14, 2026, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE): Canadian University Dubai (CUD) recently brought together aspiring student entrepreneurs, innovative business ideas, and industry-style pitching experiences during the ENT242 Start-Up Competition – Spring 2026 Edition, held across two dedicated online pitching sessions on May 7 and 8, 2026. The event showcased creativity, future-focused thinking, and practical problem-solving through student-led start-up concepts designed to address real-world challenges.
Organized as part of the ENT242 Entrepreneurship course, the initiative challenged students to transform innovative ideas into practical start-up concepts, presenting their solutions before an academic judging panel in a professional and collaborative environment. The competition reflected CUD’s commitment to experiential, industry-focused learning by enabling students to bridge academic theory with real-world entrepreneurial practice.
Across the two-day competition, 15 student teams participated in structured pitching sessions, presenting innovative business concepts spanning cybersecurity, sustainability, health and wellness, technology, transportation, fashion, financial literacy, construction, sports technology, and creative industries.
The competition also highlighted the diversity of innovation-driven thinking across participating teams, with students presenting innovative concepts addressing sustainability, technology, wellness, mobility, media, and community-focused solutions.
Students progressed through the full entrepreneurial journey, from problem identification and customer understanding to branding, business model development, financial planning, storytelling, and investor-style pitching. Evaluation criteria focused on innovation, originality, problem identification and solution clarity, value proposition, market potential, business feasibility, communication, professionalism, and team collaboration.
Throughout the event, students demonstrated strong levels of creativity, professionalism, and entrepreneurial thinking, delivering their concepts with confidence while clearly communicating their business models, branding strategies, financial plans, and investment proposals.
The event was moderated by Dr. Khulood Shebib Khansaheb, Assistant Professor and Incubator Manager, and Dr. Robert McClung, Associate Professor and Dean of First-Year Students. The judging panel included Dr. Osama Khassawneh, Assistant Professor, School of Management; Dr. Zakariya Chabani, Associate Professor, School of Management; and Dr. Arash Kermani Kolankeh, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, Applied Science and Technology.
Reflecting on the initiative, Dr. Khulood highlighted the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation within the university’s experiential learning ecosystem.
“The ENT242 Start-Up competition is of great importance as it provides a platform where top-performing entrepreneurship students of CUD pitch their start-up concepts in front of a judging panel. Not only that, but this competition is also a clear resemblance of the CUD leadership’s endorsement of entrepreneurship and innovation being one of the core pillars of experiential learning and industry collaboration to enrich students’ entrepreneurial mindset and solving real world challenges that align with UAE 2031 vision and D33.”
One of the standout moments of the competition was the performance of the winning team, “Ecopreneurs,” whose start-up concept “Belle and Baby” focused on sustainable adaptive baby clothing designed to reduce environmental waste while supporting parents through practical and cost-effective solutions.
The team addressed challenges associated with rapidly changing baby clothing sizes, excessive clothing waste, and the ongoing cost of frequently replacing baby clothing. Their proposed solution integrated adaptive-fit garments, “grow-with-me” fabric concepts, online sizing guidance, durable materials, climate optimization, circular sustainability practices, and real-time environmental savings to support both environmental responsibility and infant wellness.
Reflecting on their journey throughout the competition, the winning team shared:
“From the classroom to the podium, the Ecopreneurs proved one thing: you don’t just build a brand for the future, you engineer a world they can grow into.”
The competition also reinforced CUD’s commitment to preparing students for future career pathways by strengthening innovation, confidence, collaboration, and market readiness. Participating teams with strong execution potential will continue to receive mentorship opportunities and guidance through the CUD Incubator, supporting further development, incubation opportunities, and participation in external competitions.
The ENT242 Start-Up Competition reflects Canadian University Dubai’s ongoing commitment to fostering entrepreneurship, innovation, experiential learning, and future-ready business and industry-focused skills, empowering students to contribute meaningful solutions aligned with the UAE’s evolving innovation and economic landscape.