Why HIBR is doing this
The fastest way to build a great product is to build it with the people who'll use it. The most expensive way is to launch it and find out months later that the workflow assumes English by default, or that the VAT engine doesn't handle designated-zone reverse charge the way real UAE retailers do, or that the WPS SIF generator produces a file the agent bank rejects.
Every UAE ERP that's failed to gain SMB traction made one of those mistakes. We don't want to make it 12 months after launch and have to retrofit the fix. We want to make it now, with 10 businesses watching every decision, in a structured 90-day program where we're accountable for fixing what doesn't work.
This is the program that gives us — and you — that loop.
What you get
You get
- 90 days of Pro tier — free. 897 of normal subscription value. No card required.
- White-glove data migration from your current tool / spreadsheets. Engineering does the import + reconciliation + first VAT-period validation.
- Direct Slack + WhatsApp access to the HIBR build team. No tickets. You ask, we answer.
- First access to every new feature as it ships through Q4 2026. AI Tax Co-pilot, Bilingual Bookkeeper, WhatsApp Agent, Chargeback Defender — you see them weeks before public beta opens.
- Permanent 30% lifetime discount on whichever tier you choose at the end of the 90 days. No commitment to continue — but if you do, the discount stays for as long as you're a HIBR customer.
- Published case study with your business as the featured story. Pre-approved by you before publication. A marketing asset both sides can use.
- Founder-level relationship. You don't get handed off to a CSM. You get the founder + the build team for the whole program.
We need
- 4 hours/month for 3 months — that's it for synchronous time.
- 60-min kickoff call in September 2026. Walk through your current setup, pain points, top 3 things you want HIBR to fix.
- 30-min mid-program review at day 45. What's working, what's broken, what's missing.
- 60-min exit interview at day 90. Honest critique + case study capture.
- Async weekly check-ins — short Loom video questions (typically 5-10 min/week to respond). Skip any week you're slammed.
- Real data. We import your actual books, run real VAT 201s, process real payroll if you opt in. The whole point is to find the edge cases — bring them.
- Permission to publish a case study with screenshots from your workspace (financial data anonymized) and 2-3 attributed quotes. You see + approve before anything goes live.
Who we're looking for
The design partner cohort is selected for diversity. We want one or two of each:
- F&B operator — restaurant, café, cloud kitchen with multi-location complexity or a high-volume single site.
- Retail SMB — multi-SKU inventory, ideally with both physical store + online presence.
- Professional services firm — accountant, consultant, agency. Recurring billing complexity.
- E-commerce-first business — Shopify/WooCommerce/Salla store with daily order volume.
- Light manufacturing — BOM, work orders, inventory transfers between locations.
- Free-zone + mainland mixed entity — one of the most complex setups in UAE, and the one most poorly served by existing tools.
What you have in common: annual revenue between 500K and 25M, a UAE trade license (mainland or free-zone), and a founder/finance-lead willing to spend 4 hours/month for 3 months making the product better. That's the entire criteria list.
Program timeline
Applications open
Email partners@hibr.ai with a 5-line description of your business. We respond within 5 business days. Selected applicants get a kickoff call invite.
Onboarding kickoff
60-min kickoff call. White-glove data migration begins. You get Slack + WhatsApp build-team access.
Migration complete + first invoice issued
Your historical data is in HIBR. Your first new invoice goes out from HIBR. POS terminal (if applicable) is connected.
Public beta opens — you're already running
While the public beta cohort is just starting, you've been running for a month. You see every new feature week-by-week, alongside the public-beta crowd but with priority response on bugs you find.
30-min check-in
What's working. What's broken. What's missing. We commit to a fix list for the remaining 45 days.
First VAT 201 filed through HIBR
If your VAT period aligns, your first FTA submission happens via HIBR's auto-file. We monitor it together.
60-min exit + case study capture
Honest critique. Case study recording (text + screenshots + 2-3 quotes). 30% lifetime discount activated for whichever tier you choose to continue on.
Case studies publish + Pro tier launches publicly
Your case study goes live on hibr.ai + LinkedIn + as a sales asset. Public Pro tier launches Feb 2027.
Honest commercials
To be clear about what changes hands and what doesn't:
- Free during the program. No card on file. No hidden charges. No mid-program billing surprises.
- No automatic conversion to paid. At day 90 you actively choose to continue (with the 30% lifetime discount) or walk away. Walking away costs nothing and we export your data to whatever format you want.
- No exclusivity. Keep running your current system in parallel. Dual-run is the safest validation pattern; we encourage it.
- No IP claim on your data. Your data is yours. We use it inside HIBR to deliver service. We anonymize financial figures before any external use.
- Case study is opt-in at every step. You can decline publication at day 90 with no penalty.
FAQ
What if my current accountant has concerns about us switching?
Bring them. We've designed HIBR to make external accountants happier, not displace them. The audit log alone usually wins them over. We run a 30-min walkthrough for any accountant who wants one — no charge, included in the design-partner program.
What if HIBR doesn't have a feature I need?
That's a high-priority signal. Design-partner-flagged feature requests get prioritized over the general roadmap. We won't promise to build every request, but the ones we do build, we attribute to the partner who flagged it — and the build team will commit to a yes/no/when within 7 days.
Will my competitors know I'm a design partner?
Only if you decide to publish the case study. If you decline publication at day 90, no public association — but you keep the 30% lifetime discount and the historical build-team relationship.
I have a UAE business but I'm not in the cohort categories above. Should I apply anyway?
Yes. The cohort categories are diversity targets, not gates. If your business has interesting complexity (especially regulatory, multi-emirate, or cross-border) we'll consider you regardless of vertical fit. The worst outcome is a polite no.
What happens to my data if I don't continue after day 90?
Full export in your choice of CSV / JSON / SQL dump / PDF financial pack. Your workspace stays read-only for 90 additional days after the program ends so you have plenty of time to migrate cleanly. Day 91 of read-only retention: permanent deletion unless you request immediate erasure earlier (PDPL Article 13).
Apply for Cohort 1 →
Email partners@hibr.ai with your company name, trade license issuing authority + license number, annual revenue band, primary business activity, current accounting/POS system, and 2-3 sentences on what about your current system frustrates you most.
We respond within 5 business days. Cohort 1 caps at 10 partners — apply by August 31, 2026 (or sooner if 30 qualified applications arrive first).
partners@hibr.ai →Related
- What HIBR does: HIBR ERP overview
- Pricing: Pricing tiers
- Migration paths: Migration from your current tool / QBO / other UAE accounting tools
- Security & compliance: Security audit · Data residency
- For accountants: Accounting firm partnership
- For tax agents: FTA-registered tax agent partnership