RAKEZ Teams Up with Zoho to Bolster Digital Arsenal for UAE Startups

Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (Rakez) has moved to strengthen its digital offering through a new partnership with global tech firm Zoho, opening the door for thousands of businesses to access cloud-based tools designed to make running a company a little less of a faff.

The agreement, signed at the Compass Coworking Centre in Ras Al Khaimah, brings Zoho’s broad suite of business applications into the Rakez ecosystem. That means companies registered with Rakez can tap into tools covering accounting and invoicing, customer relationship management (CRM), human resources, collaboration, and analytics—all from one integrated platform. Eligible firms will also receive wallet credits of up to $1,000, lowering the barrier to entry for startups and SMEs that often watch every dirham.

For early-stage founders, these costs can be the difference between experimenting freely and holding back. I remember speaking to a startup team at a community event who were juggling spreadsheets, email threads and manual invoices—well… I mean, we’ve all seen that chaos before. Getting access to a unified cloud system at reduced cost would have been spot on for them at that stage.

Puneet Jain, Chief Strategic Officer at Rakez, and Prem Anand, Associate Director and Strategic Growth at Zoho, formalised the partnership, underlining what both sides describe as a shared ambition to upgrade digital capabilities across the business community. Rakez Group CEO Ramy Jallad has said the collaboration is about helping companies remain competitive for the long term by giving them access to enterprise-grade tools without the enterprise-level price tag.

Zoho’s platform, which serves millions of organisations globally, is known for its scalability. In simple terms, it can grow with a business—from a two-person startup to a larger, more complex operation. That flexibility matters in markets like the UAE, where companies often scale quickly if they find the right product-market fit. And believe it or not, digital housekeeping—proper bookkeeping, automated HR, clean data dashboards—can make or break that growth phase.

The initiative also fits neatly into the UAE’s broader push towards a stronger digital economy. By encouraging companies to streamline operations and adopt cloud tools, Rakez is aligning itself with national ambitions around innovation and efficiency. On the flip side, technology alone doesn’t solve everything; implementation and internal culture are just as crucial. I’m not a fan of partnerships that look good on paper but fail to translate on the ground. That said, pairing financial incentives with practical software access feels like a sensible start.

For the wider MENA startup scene, this kind of collaboration is definately worth watching. Access to reliable, affordable digital infrastructure is no longer a luxury—it’s a baseline. And as many Arageek readers know, when ecosystems remove friction for founders, even in small ways, the ripple effects can be chuffed to bits powerful.

In a region where entrepreneurship is gaining pace year after year, initiatives like this suggest that free zones are not only offering licences and office space, but also thinking more deeply about the real operational needs of modern businesses. It may sound simple, but sometimes the smartest moves are the ones that quietly help companies get their house in order before aiming for the big leagues.

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