Unlike many cities across the globe, Dubai has a reputation for making residents, citizens, and visitors satisfied and happy to the point that the city even has its own Ministry of Happiness and Wellbeing.
On a daily basis, people’s lives are being made easier, and now, most Dubai-based startups have this very goal at the top of their minds. With that being said, here are the coolest and most innovative Dubai-based startups that know exactly how to make people’s lives a bit easier:
Ekar
Car rentals are already great, knowing that you can travel to any country and have a way to get around the city throughout your trip. That’s already making people’s lives easier, so of course, Dubai had to take it a step further. Meet the Ekar app that lets you rent a car by the minute, day or week.
Using the Ekar app, you can locate all rentable cars parked across the city, which can include a Hyundai, Kia, and many other options.
Once you pick your car, you head to it, unlock it, and use it for as long as you like. In 2015, entrepreneurs Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari came together to bring this app to life, knowing a similar version exists in Canada and is already booming.
Qlub
You know that feeling when you’re in a restaurant, and the process of getting the bill and paying by card is taking longer than making the order itself?
Using an all-in-one contactless payment approach, Qlub allows customers to instantly pay their bills in restaurants within 10 seconds.
How you may ask? By scanning a QR code that directs them to a digital version of their bill, and from there, diners get exposed to plenty of payment options.
The best part is splitting the bill, where you’ll get to pick how many people are at the table and how many you’re paying for. Then, you’ll get your split amount calculated in seconds. The payment itself is super easy because you can instantly pay using Apple Pay, Google Pay, or a card.
Zenda
In Dubai, we all know that the expat community make up a large chunk of the population, but the only way to have access to free education is by becoming a citizen. We all know how hard that can be.
If we put two and two together, it’s easy to figure out that most parents will end up having to pay for their kids’ education.
That’s how the idea of the startup known as Zenda came to life. Based in Dubai, this app, founded by Raman Thiagarajan, is basically an online platform that rewards parents for paying school fees.
Using the app, schools grant parents the option to pay later using payment plans, and once they do, they end up getting rewarded. This keeps parents motivated to pay on time.
You Got A Gift
Gift lovers rejoice! A lot of us easily get stumped when it comes to figuring out what to get for an upcoming wedding, birthday party, or baby shower.
Co-founders Abed Bibi And Husain Makiya came to the realization that many people just want to get a gift card on their birthday. So, they gave people what they wanted, a platform called ‘You Got A Gift’ that offers cards with different values that can be used in multiple brands.
They even sell single-brand cards that include Amazon, Virgin Megastore, SHEIN, Noon, and many more. What’s special about ‘You Got A Gift’ is that the card itself has a different design depending on the occasion. There’s the “New Baby” card, the “Love” card, the “Thank You” card, and so much more.
Life is already easy in Dubai, but it’s great that there are always ways to make it a bit easier through the coolest platforms and apps made by leading startups across the city.