Thank you Dubai Apps Championship 🙏

My co-founder and I were in the middle of building software when we met with the Dubai App Championship team at GITEX, Dubai. Friendly Sarah explained what the Championship was, what it entailed and asked me: do you have an idea for an App?

It felt like a godsend. Indeed, I had an App idea — a smart food companion that matches your dietary profile to any menu in the world. But we were focused on other priorities; with a client project and AO Pulse to finish, we were quite busy. As it turns out, an idea is the only thing you need to start your championship journey.

I took a minute to gather my thoughts, pitched my idea on the spot and Sarah showed me the booth to record a super-short video. Trembling and quite hyped, I grabbed a marker and wrote on their transparent plexiglass board while they filmed from the other side: Dine with AI ❤️

That idea was a long time coming. It grew from years of pain and restricted meals.

My husband and I have been suffering from allergies and intolerances for respectively decades and years. We also try to avoid certain foods and follow quite a few diets to maximize our health. But the life of an intolerant foodie is not easy.

As we were navigating yet another long conversation with a patient waiter in Bali, trying to explain our dietary needs, I realized: there must be an easier way. The idea for a solution that would allow us to see what we can eat from any menu, anywhere in the world stayed in the back of my head.

And then I met with the Dubai App Championship Team. The months that followed GITEX, I joined the bandwagon of workshops and online classes — sharing the highs and lows of App coding, market research, UX optimization, TAM/SAM/SOM estimates… and all things that make an App a successful reality.

I am so impressed by this initiative, the care of the organizing team, the many opportunities to be mentored, to refine the idea, to be trained by experts and to learn so much. Without the Championship, this App wouldn't exist.

And there it is now: AlignEat is ready.

AlignEat did not make the cut among the thousands of App ideas participating in the championship. Of course it is a little bit sad, after all these shared moments and the excitement that had built up.

But I am not sad: I am thankful, I am motivated. Because thanks to the Dubai App Championship, we have a product that can help people around the world.

Onward and Beyond 🚀