MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab, Community Jameel and Zain Group Launch Roadshows for the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition
- Zain Bahrain to host briefing session tonight
- Fostering innovation, entrepreneurship and mentoring across the region
- Applications deadline is 4 January, 2016
- Finals to be held in Jeddah on 14 April, 2016; prize money exceeds US$150,000
Having opened the ninth edition of the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition for applications via the competition’s website www.mitarabcompetition.com, on 6 October, 2015, the MIT Enterprise Forum for the Pan Arab Region (MITEF PAR), held a series of roadshows in Egypt, Jordan, and Sudan, to promote the competition and to encourage entrepreneurs to submit applications. From now until the end of November, the organizers plan to undertake additional roadshows in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, the UAE, and again in Egypt.
Zain Bahrain will be hosting two briefing sessions this evening Sunday 22nd of November at Zain Tower. Officials from MITEF Startup Competition and last year’s winner @Colorbug will be attending the event.
The MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition is organized in partnership with Community Jameel, the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of Abdul Latif Jameel, and Zain Group, a leading mobile telecom innovator across the Middle East and Africa.
During the roadshows, participants enjoy a presentation about the competition, followed by a Q&A session, and then additional presentations and shared success stories from former competition participants. Notably, the Sudan roadshow, organized by Zain, on 18 October at the Korinthia Hotel in Khartoum, hosted approximately 125 entrepreneurs and students. The first roadshow in Egypt took place between 19 October –25 October when MITEF PAR had a booth at the GESR Social Innovation Summit at Cairo’s Greek Campus as well as during the Tecne Summit at the Alexandria Library, with the presentations attended by a combined total of over 300 students and entrepreneurs.
The Jordan roadshow took place in Amman from 1 November –3 November with presentations made at the Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship, the Zain Innovation Campus, and OASIS500 attended by a combined total of over 200 students and entrepreneurs. On 2 November, Jordan’s Hala FM aired live interviews with the MITEF PAR representative and two competition success stories during its 1-hour “Khalik Maa Zain” program.
In Lebanon, the event took place on November 18, at the American University of Beirut attended by over 100 students and aspiring entrepreneurs and this will be followed by a series of other roadshows at universities across Lebanon.
Regarding Community Jameel International’s support of the competition and roadshows, President Fady Jameel said, “We are excited to welcome new applicants to this year’s competition, and we hope they take the opportunity to attend one of the roadshows, to hear first-hand how the competition can offer them unprecedented opportunities. Entrepreneurs play an important role in shaping the economy, and each year we look forward to receiving new applications and meeting and networking with the applicants at the roadshows. The roadshows are just the beginning of an exciting journey to success for the young entrepreneurs.”
On his part, Zain Group CEO, Scott Gegenheimer said, “Our support of the roadshows and the Competition is unflinching because Zain understands the importance of youth development, entrepreneurship, and innovation. We nurture talent in our organization and have identified this as one of our leading success factors, so we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our partners looking to inspire talented people in other areas. We echo the call for applicants to attend roadshows and apply to participate in this year’s Competition.”
Commenting on the success of the roadshows, Hala Fadel, Chair of the board of MITEF Pan Arab said, “The MIT Enterprise Forum Startup Competition roadshows are an exciting component of the competition as they allow our team to meet face-to-face with hundreds of talented youth across the region, as well as to re-connect with the entrepreneurs behind our success stories who join the roadshows to share their overall competition experience. The roadshows aim to inform and inspire this talent and to encourage them to apply to the competition and benefit from the cash prizes, top-notch training, mentorship, networking, and media exposure the competition offers.”
Additional roadshows are scheduled as follows:
Bahrain – November 22 at the Zain Tower (Al Seef District) from 3:30 – 5:30 pm and Startup Bahrain at Zain Tower from 7:00 – 9:00 pm.
Kuwait – November 24, from 11:00 am – 12:30 pm at American University of Kuwait and from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Startupq8 Event at Global Tower.
Roadshows in Iraq, Morocco, Qatar, and the UAE are still to be scheduled to take place from now until mid-December.
For more information on this year’s MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition eligibility and judging criteria, as well as the planned roadshows, please visit www.mitarabcompetition.com.
About MITEF Pan Arab: Founded in 2005, the MIT Enterprise Forum of the Pan Arab Region (www.mitefarab.org) is one of the 28 worldwide chapters of the MIT Enterprise Forum Global, an avid promoter of entrepreneurship and innovation worldwide. The MIT Enterprise Forum- Pan Arab has a proven record in promoting MIT-style entrepreneurship by organizing each year the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition (www.mitarabcompetition.com), targeting 21 countries of the Arab region and attracting over 12,000 entrepreneurs a year.
About Community Jameel: In 2003, Community Jameel was formally established as the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of Abdul Latif Jameel, one of the world’s leading independent Toyota distributors. Today, Community Jameel operates a considerable set of initiatives. From individual, community and Arab life as a whole in Saudi Arabia and beyond, Community Jameel has the welfare of its people at heart. By promoting Arab arts and culture in the Middle East and around the world, working against unemployment, enabling research for poverty alleviation, and providing education and training opportunities, Community Jameel has successfully promoted positive social and economic sustainability. Community Jameel supports and partners with global institutions, which employ hundreds of people, all aiming to provide people with opportunities and training in the following areas: Job Creation – Bab Rizq Jameel; Global Poverty Alleviation; Arts and Culture – Art Jameel; Education and Training – Education Jameel; Health and Social – Social Jameel; and Food and Water Security – Environment Jameel. For more info, please visit: www.cjameel.org
About Zain Group: Zain is a leading telecommunications operator across the Middle East and Africa providing mobile voice and data services to over 45.6 million active customers as of 30 September, 2015. With a commercial presence in 8 countries, Zain operates in: Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and South Sudan. In Lebanon, the Group manages ‘touch’ on behalf of the government. In Morocco, Zain has a 15.5% stake in ‘INWI’, through a joint venture. Zain is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (stock ticker: ZAIN). For more, please email info@zain.com or visit: www.zain.com; www.facebook.com/zain; www.twitter.com/zain; www.youtube.com/zain; www.instagram.com/zaingroup; www.linkedin.com/company/zain