Overview Economy Community People Environment Governance & Risk Disclosure GRI & ADX 35GRI 103-2, 103-3, 203-2, 413-1 Ibtikar is Aldar’s internal idea crowd-sourcing programme, which aims to incubate ideas and run pilots for validation and, ultimately, for venture building. In 2020, we launched two cycles of Ibtikar, resulting in 10 ideas being selected for validation, eight of which moved forward to proof of concept, and four of which have been launched. One of the initiatives to come out of the Ibtikar challenge is the Manassah entrepreneurship competition. Developed in partnership with startAD, the UAE accelerator that helps seed-stage technology start-ups, Manassah gives early-stage retail and food and beverage start-ups the opportunity to pitch their ideas, test them out and refine them, before taking them to market. This is just one of the ways in which we are building a community of entrepreneurs who are bringing innovative concepts to our local communities, enabling us to meet evolving customer needs and enhance Abu Dhabi’s retail landscape. First cycle of Manassah entrepreneurship programme ends with three winners In 2020, the Manassah entrepreneurship programme received over 150 submissions. Three winners were selected to bring their concepts to life at Aldar’s Mamsha Al Saadiyat beachfront community, where they are receiving equity-free incentives worth up to AED 1 million, and free rent for one year. The winners were: Coffee Architecture: a specialty coffee house built by the first female Emirati certified Q grader, trained and licensed by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI). Coffee Architecture is designed around minimalism, passion, art, and love in Abu Dhabi. Alkalime: a feel-good café concept that offers customers healthy, nutritious and tasty food and drink, in a relaxing, eco-friendly space. Wake n’ Bake: a home-grown bakery by a female Emirati chef, specialising in hand-crafted breads, custard doughnuts and other handmade fresh baked goods. Due to the outstanding success of the programme, in 2021 we will launch the second round of Manassah, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture & Youth, the Khalifa Fund, the Department of Community Development, and the Brinc accelerator. Fostering a culture of innovation Crowd-sourcing innovation