Who’s excited for the upcoming MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) Arab Startup Competition? Because we surely can’t wait. Lots of exciting things are lined up for us this year, and many amazing startups are participating.
The MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition is an annual competition that is held around the Middle East. The competition aims to promote entrepreneurship and innovation throughout the region. Twenty-one Arab countries have participated in this competition, and more than 80,000 individuals have applied to this competition since they launched eleven years ago. Last year, the MITEF Arab Startup Competition 10th anniversary was held here in Bahrain, while this year’s ceremony will be held in Oman, on April 19th, 2018. This year’s competition is going to be held in partnership with Community Jameel, and the strategic partners Riyada, Omantel, Oman Technology Fund, and Zain Group, with StartUp Bahrain being a community partner.
Here’s how the competition works: The entrepreneurs are pit in 3 different tracks, Ideas Track, Startups Track, and Social Entrepreneurship Track. Winning startups are awarded with prizes that’s worth more than $160k, and they also get to benefit from other activities such as top-tier training, mentorship, coaching, media exposure, and awesome networking opportunities.
A week ago, MITEF for the Pan Arab region just announced their semi-finalists for its competition. We at Startup MGZN are super pumped for this year’s Startup Competition, and we decided to list down some of the awesome startups that have made it to MIT EF’s Arab Startup Competition so far, and guess what? Two of the semi-finalists are from Bahrain!
- Ideas Track:
- Social Entrepreneurship Track:
- Find A Nurse: A Lebanese-based startup that provides people with an online platform that connects patients, mostly elderly, who need home nursing care with competent home nurses.
- Impacter by Melltoo: A UAE-based startup that allows individuals to resell their goods for a cause.
- Startups Track:
- Dual Networks SA: A Bahraini-based global startup that offers targeted and competitive solutions for industries such as construction, and governments.
- Vapulus: Egyptian FinTech startup that provides an online payment solution that allows users to pay bills, send or receive money, and transfer money online.
Of course, there are many more great startups that have been selected, which you can check out here.
And don’t feel like you’ve missed out! Because the MIT EF Arab Startup competition is held every year. So if you have an awesome idea or an existing idea, you can definitely apply. For more information about MIT EF and their program, you can check out their website here.