I think it’s best that you know now, here’s my experience of in5:

PROS:

• It’s a relatively cheap way of setting up a business over here.
• It’s a really nice office space, whether you’re in Tech, Design, or Media.
• You have access to some great media facilities for a very low cost.
• Occasionally, you’ll have slightly useful seminars you can attend for free. I’ve found them to be very average though.

CONS:

• You get a mentor but in my limited experience, that mentor is only there to offer to work with you if you have a great idea AND you’re willing to reimburse them somehow (a salary or equity).
• There’s really no access whatsoever to VCs or Angel Investors.
• There’s very little support and if you want it, to really have to chase it down and keep pushing for it.

To summarise, it should be a really great incubator to join, but in reality it’s just a nice place to work, and a cheap way of starting a business.

Plus you can boast that you have Dubai-based startup! Lots of the startups in in5 seem to be based there but have plans to only expand into other markets like India and Egypt.

Don’t necessarily be put off, but don’t expect too much from them.

I’d def recommend getting your MVP sorted first, otherwise you’re just going to be throwing money away living in Dubai until you’re ready for launch.