Kuwait – The MIT Enterprise Forum of the Pan Arab region, in partnership with Zain Group and Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives(ALJCI) , announced that a total of 75teams from 15 countries have qualified for the next round of the prestigious MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) Arab Startup Competition, with the final winners ceremony now confirmed to be held at the Symphony Style Hotel, Kuwait on 20 April 2015.
Earlier this year, Zain Group, a leading mobile telecom innovator in 8 markets across Middle East and Africa, detailed its partnership joining founding partner Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives in the eighth edition of this year’s competition that received an outstanding 4,275 individual and team applications (comprising over 12,000 entrepreneurs) from 21 Arab countries. The three tracks that entrants applied for are: Ideas, Startups, and Social Entrepreneurship.
The remaining 75 teams will now be assigned coaches to work closely with each of them in order to achieve specific deliverables in the track they are participating in. The national origins of the groups with corresponding number of semi-finalists who made it to second-round include Algeria (1), Bahrain (2), Egypt (15), Iraq (2), Jordan (7), Kuwait (5), Lebanon (7), Morocco (8), Palestine (3), Qatar (2), Saudi Arabia (5), Sudan (1), Syria (1), Tunisia (2), and UAE (14).
Hala Fadel, Chair of the board of MITEF Pan Arab commented, “Our new partnership with Zain helped us achieve real breakthroughs in terms of applications from Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, while with our founding partner ALJCI, we continued to drive more applicants from across the Arab region with a record participation of over 12,000 entrepreneurs.”
Commenting on the achievement of the teams to have qualified for the next stage, Zain Group CEO, Scott Gegenheimer said, “I congratulate all the semi-finalists for showing how progressive and dynamic their startup ideas are. It is clear that today’s innovators are tomorrow’s differentiators, and much of the region’s future development will be driven by young people in technology, so Zain is especially proud to be fostering the growth of this competition.”
Mr. Gegenheimer continued, “This partnership with MIT Enterprise Forum offers Zain a prime opportunity to capitalize on the most promising innovative ideas in the regional digital space with the ultimate aim of investing in or partnering with these entities to offer our customers unique life-enriching services.”
Fady Jameel, President of ALJCI International, commented on the importance of such initiatives in nurturing young entrepreneurs in the Arab world: “Now in its eighth year, the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition receives a great number of applications from impressive young individuals and teams from Arab countries. The interest in the competition demonstrates the enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit of the youth across the region and, with the support from initiatives such as this, this generation is being giving the opportunity to help themselves in securing fulfilling employment opportunities. ALJCI’s goal is ultimately to reduce unemployment in the region and, thanks to our partnerships with organisations and institutions such as MIT , we are heading in the right direction.”
Following the coaching period the teams will undergo in the forthcoming weeks, all participants are then set to convene in Kuwait on 15 April, 2015 for a four-day intensive training session in order to receive further instruction on startups from trainers from Silicon Valley. The sessions will also extend to additional coaching and networking sessions with the business community in Kuwait, as well as regional and international participants.
On the evening of 19 April, 10 finalists will be announced from each track, while on the 20th the short-listed teams will be offered an opportunity to pitch their ideas to a panel of investors and successful entrepreneurs, before the ultimate winners are selected.
Three teams from each track will be declared winners during the final awards ceremony on 20 April, which will coincide with the official opening of the eighth MIT Pan Arab Conference organized by MIT Arab Alumni Association and MITEF Pan Arab. Each of the Ideas, Startups, and Social Entrepreneurship tracks will award the first three ranked winners with cash prizes in addition to a lot of other benefits including: top tier training, mentorship, coaching, media exposure, and great networking opportunities.
Widely known as MIT , theMassachusetts Institute of Technology is recognized for being one of the leading universities in the world, earning a reputation as a key player in the advancement of the digital age. MIT focuses on better equipping students with the right tools to transform technological ideas into successful businesses across many academic fields.
Founded in 2005, the MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) of the Pan Arab Region is one of the 28 worldwide chapters of the MITEF Global, an avid promoter of innovation worldwide, engaging aspiring entrepreneurs in mentorship and networking.
For more information on the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition judging criteria, please visit www.mitarabcompetition.com