Supporting the Bahraini Youth – Success Story of the Nail Polish Mixture
Being a development bank with a vision to stimulate the economy of Bahrain through nurturing and supporting SMEs development, part of BDB’s main goals and objectives is to support young Bahraini entrepreneurs to become successful and turn their dreams into reality. Alaa Mohammed Abdulraheem is a 24 year old girl from the Kingdom of Bahrain who has benefited from the services offered by BDB and has highlighted her success locally and internationally.
She is the master behind the nail polish mixer invention. The idea of the invention came to her when she heard her sister discussing the amount of nail polish colors that she has, and as she approached her university senior project, she decided to focus on creating a device that mixes nail polish and came up with nail polish mixer, a solution for females to choose the right nail polish color. The nail polish mixer enables women to create their own nail polish mix in less than one minute, test different colors, match it with skin types and outfits, and choose between three color effects (normal, glitter, and matte) then share it across the social media via its application through a smart phone. Alaa did not just consider this as a senior year project, but saw the potential in commercializing her idea and further developing her invention. Being part of the University of Bahrain she approached the Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) team at the University of Bahrain Incubator where she was directed toward the Pre-Seed Capital Support Scheme, a joint program between BDB and Tamkeen supporting innovative projects.
From there, Alaa received support through the Pre-Seed Capital Support Scheme, in addition, she embarked on the coaching support program offered by BDB starting with developing her prototype and then going on to developing her product further. Alaa is an inventor that has shown great passion toward growth and was able to capture the interest of many females into her invention. She then went on to enter Microsoft Imagine Cup with a positive challenging mindset to internationally present that her invention is of great value and can definitely be the essence of a successful business venture. With the support of BDB through the different phases that “Butterfly Team”, led by Alaa, faced, Alaa was able to develop her prototype further through receiving audience feedback at Ramadhaniyat Bazaar in Riyadat Mall and build on her soft and business skills through a comprehensive coaching development program in order to excel in each phase of the competition.
With great ambition the “Butterfly” team had successfully won first place in the Innovation category at the Bahrain local finals and the Pan-Arab semi-finals that was held in Qatar being the only team in the Innovation category representing the Arab region in Seattle, USA. As hard work and dedication were the main priority of “Butterfly Team”, Alaa and her partner came back home with 3rd place, an amazing achievement being the first Arab team to win in the Innovation category since it was established in 2003.
Alaa has shown the world that Bahrain has young, creative, and motivated entrepreneurs, and with great ambition they can reach their goal. As part of BDB’s objectives, Alaa is a perfect example to highlight the talents of Bahraini youth and BDB is proud to be part of this great success.
BDB’s doors are always open to continue supporting young entrepreneurs and help them pursue their dreams.