Empowering Ideas. Building Nations.
Say YES to the future of business.
YES 2026 is a free five-month program for young Indonesian founders. Six Academy sessions of two hours each, one business proposal, and a pitch in front of senior judges.
You spend all of it working on your own idea or your own business. Not a case study. Yours.
What is YES
More than a competition.
Most competitions ask you to arrive ready. YES teaches first.
Six Academy sessions come before anyone pitches, and responsible AI use is built into every one of them. What you build in those sessions becomes your business proposal, and your proposal is what you compete with.
Learn & Build
Six two-hour sessions that take you from your starting point to a business case you can defend. Hybrid, so you can join wherever you are.
Validate & Compete
Turn the work into a business proposal, then put it in front of senior judges. Semi-Final, Grand Final, five award categories.
Connect & Discover
Access to the Indonesia–UAE business ecosystem: founders, corporate and institutional exposure, and a network that carries on after January.
Learn. Build. Compete. Connect.
Is YES for me?
You don't need a business to say YES.
YES is built for two different starting points. Pick the one that sounds like you.
Applying solo means living in the UAE. Applying as a team means one of you does, and the rest can be in Indonesia.
I have an idea
You have a problem you care about and a rough sense of the answer. Maybe you have been turning it over for months. Maybe you have sketched something and stopped.
That's a real starting point, and Track A exists for it. You don't need a registered company, a product, or a co-founder. You need the idea and five months.
I'm already building
You have customers, or a product, or a business that runs on evenings and weekends. What you don't have is time to step back and work on it.
Track B is that time. Everything you do across the five months is work on your own business, and the proposal you finish with is one you can use afterwards.
Eligibility
- Indonesian citizen
- Aged 18–35
- Living in the UAE
- Apply on your own, or as a team of 2 to 5
- Team members can be based in Indonesia. Only the Team Leader has to live in the UAE
- Free — no registration fee, no participation fee
Still not sure?
- I'm not a UI alumnus.
- You don't need to be. YES is organised by ILUNI UI UAE and open to any Indonesian citizen in the UAE who meets the criteria.
- I live in Indonesia, not the UAE.
- You can still take part, as long as you join as a team and one member of that team is a UAE resident who leads it. Everyone else can be based in Indonesia.
- I'm employed full-time.
- Most participants are. Academy sessions are hybrid and scheduled around working people.
- I've never pitched anything.
- Neither had most of the people who will be sitting next to you. The Academy comes first for exactly this reason.
Why say YES
Build something real.
YES isn't entrepreneurship in theory. Every session, every exercise and every deadline points at the same thing: your idea or your business, further along than it was in September.
Learn by doing
Six two-hour Academy sessions built around a real business case. Yours.
Build with AI
Practical, responsible AI use worked into every session, not bolted on at the end.
Test your thinking
A professional business proposal, senior feedback, and pitch experience you keep.
Build connections
People and organisations across the Indonesia–UAE ecosystem, including investors.
Banking access, for every participant
Every participant gets the opportunity to access banking facilities with BSI — credit, financing and cash management. Access is subject to the bank's own assessment.
BSI · Confirmed award partner
Awards, for the winning teams
Winning teams receive gold savings through BSI Tabungan Emas, and business consultancy services. Five award categories are announced at launch.
Champion 1 · Champion 2 · Champion 3 · Best Idea Stage · Best Early Venture
Your YES journey
One program. Five months. A clear path forward.
Here's the whole thing, start to finish. No surprises after you apply.
- ApplyFree, online, at sayyes.ae
- YES AcademySix sessions, two hours each
- Business ProposalOne submission
- YES ChallengeJudged
- Semi-FinalTop 20
- Grand FinalTop 10, and the awards
- YES ConnectCarries on after January
September 2026 → January 2027
What it asks of you
Six Academy sessions of two hours each. Twelve hours in total, spread across five months, plus one written proposal and a pitch if you reach the Semi-Final.
Sessions are hybrid, so you can join online or in person.
Ready to say YES?
Whether you're starting with an idea or already building something, this is the next step. It's free, it starts in September, and it takes five months.
Say YES to the future of business.
Indonesian citizens · 18–35 · Register free at sayyes.ae
Applications close: to be announced